Victorious champions
by ScottyBgood
Summary: Tori and her friends are now L.A.'s newest, and first, super hero team. But things are changing, people are plotting, and the kids are learning that there's more to being a hero then just colorful tights. Besides, there were those hanging plot points from Victorious Origins… Oh, yea, I don't own Victorious or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, so please don't sue. Squeal to Origins.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from Victorious, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or other Marvel characters. I just put them in a blander and saw what came out.

Note: I don't know enough about the current season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for there to be spoilers. Assume minimal overlap. (More could happen as time goes forward.) Agent Malcolm Anderson will continue to he my voice of S.H.I.E.L.D. in LA, and for the purposes of law enforcement and those in the know, the organization is around. It's just not as publicly known as it otherwise might look.

This is a continuation of Victorious Origons.

:}

It was a lonely stretch of the pier, away from the main docks. Thats why, at three in the morning, it was usually quiet. The other docks were busy twenty four seven, bringing goods and materials in to the country. People were working there at every hour of the day, constantly busy. But these docks were off to the side, with sips that ran a regular schedule. So it wasn't uncommon for these docks to be all but deserted at three in the morning. But this day, on this lonely stretch of dock, the world exploded into gunfire.

The Los Angeles Port Police were caught totally off guard. They had no idea these smugglers would be so well armed. They, along with the FBI, had only expected twenty or so people, with maybe small arms. But thugs in body armor armed with assault rifles and HMGs (Heavy machine guns) where the last thing they'd have expected. "Where do they think they are?" One of the fed's asked. He was an older, white officer who looked like he'd stepped out of a recruitment poster.

"Call in backup, and someone alert the cost guard!" One of the police officers screamed.

Adding to the problem, there were far more smuggles then anyone had expected. Not caring how the bad guys wound up with over twice the manpower expected, the FBI were calling for assistance while the police were calling for their own people to withdraw. Bodies were already littering the docks, fallen police officers who's body armor had failed to repulse the severe fire power used against them, and no one was able to check for survivors.

"Call S.H.I.E.L.D" One of the dock police called. "We need help, now."

"It's outside their jurisdiction." The other FBI agent, a black woman in her late twenties screamed. "They won't come."

"But the Coast Guard will." Her partner said. "They have a ship heading this way. And we have backup with them."

The reason for the coastguard was simple in concept. A coastguard heavy patrol boat would be armed with two 50 caliber HMG's, giving them the firepower to match up with the smugglers. "Wish they had a five inch gun." One of the patrol men said.

As the sound of the sirens from the various patrol boats approached, the smugglers opened a box and pulled out a LAW, or light anti-tank weapon. The anti-tank rockets were more then enough to sink any one of the boats coming to help, maybe even kill the crew. The senior FBI agent was on his radio. "Pull back, they have Heavy Weapons." But the only response he got was static. They were being jammed.

There was a flash of light from the deck of the smugglers ship, followed by a second, and two rockets flew off towards the incoming Patrol Boat. Seconds passed as the rockets flew with deadly accuracy, one at the water line, the other deck level. Then the first explosion killed the hopes of all the law enforcement personnel present on the docks. "Pull back." The senior FBI agent said, thought he knew most of the patrol men wouldn't be able to hear. The second explosion echoed through the night.

"And on a school night!" A voice called above the sounds of the automatic weapons. Then a figure in a dark jumpsuit was tackling one of the patrol men, pulling him out of the line of fire of the thugs.

Twin shining figures moved through the air as the Coastguard boat was seen, still floating, pulling closer to the smugglers ship. "Guardian, take out that rocket launcher. Golden Girl, start clearing the decks. I want control of that ship now." The figure in the dark jumpsuit, now clearly a young black man, screamed. His voice seemed to cut through the various background noises, letting everyone know what he wanted them to do. "And someone make sure Power Princess is okay."

In the water, Jade was being hauled on to one of the harbor patrol boats. She'd intercepted both rockets, and felt like crap. "You okay?" One of the officers asked.

"I'm fine." She said. "They were shape charges. Wasn't expecting that. Punched through the defense field, and I still had to stop the second one." Despite her potent defences, she was bleeding from the twin explosions she'd caught on her chest.

The police officer tried to bandage what looked to be a serious chest wound, but it was closing too fast for him to clean it properly. "Keep her stable, and stay out of the fight." The second man on the boat said. He watched as her wounds closed. "I hope that means she's healing."

On the docks, the thugs were trying to draw a bead on a single figure that was dancing and weaving through them. But even on full auto fire, they were just doing more damage to their own people then to Blitz. But while Tori was able to pull the weapons from some of their hands, she wasn't strong enough to disarm a man who was holding onto his gun for dear life.

However, Tori's actions gave Andre the chance to close and engage. He was a far better fighter then the thugs, easily disabling them. "Careful, some of these guys are trained fighters." He called out. "Cheshire, find the source of the jammers. I want Radio back."

"On it." Trina called from deep inside the ship. She popped from one place to another, and felt for where she ran into interference. It wasn't working, so instead she aimed for the room with the most radio equipment. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when princess recovers." She told he man working the radio. He reached for his gun, and found himself in hand to hand combat with Trina. But as a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the man was a capable fighter. He knocked Trina down and grabbed his gun to finish her. Only, she'd faded. Then she kicked him in the head from her place maybe a foot away, now standing.

Outside, Cat was using her energy pulses to herd the thugs in Becks direction, since he had a better control of his ability not to kill. Beck, meanwhile, had destroyed the HMG's, and pumped his defensive shield up to maximum. Then he was using his enhanced strength to disable the men near him.

"Golden Girl, use your energy at low power, take some of these guys out." Beck called.

"What if I cave in another man's ribs?" Cat yelled back. She flew over to one of the men, yanked his gun from his hand, and threw him over the side towards the now sea of patrol boats.

"Do you have anything like a taser?" Beck asked. 'Remind me to ask Sinj to build me something like that.'

"I have an ultra-high frequency pulse I could try." She said. "Hope this doesn't boil their insides."

The golden pulse was darker, almost orange. But the man it hit stiffened and fell down. Cat rushed over to check on him, leaving Beck to hold off the small army of man still on the deck. But the sweet girl had to know her beam hadn't ended a life.

Tori was now fighting dirty, clotheslineing everyone so she could stop the fight as quickly as possible. She knew she was hurting her arms. The Latina wasn't used to multiple impacts on her arms. But the men she hit, deliberately low so she didn't crush their throats, were going down and having trouble getting back up.

Trina had, by now, secured the radio room, taken out the two guards who'd been outside the door, and turned off everything. Feeling good about her part getting done, she used her radio link to let everyone know it was on. "Hey everyone, guess who's done her job."

"Check on Princess." Andre ordered. "We may still need her."

"Okay, but… You know what, I'll take care of it." Trina reached out and grabbed the three men she'd overpowered, and popped out to the boat that was reporting they had Jade. "One of these guys is a tough fighter." Trina told them. "Feed that one to Princess if he tries anything. How is she?"

Jade was laying in a corner, unconscious. "She fainted soon after we dragged her on board." One of the officers said. "Considering what she'd exposed herself too, I'm amazed she's alive."

"Shape charges, and potent ones." Trina noted. "This has to be Hydra, cause it's S.H.I.E.L.D. tech. Otherwise, Power Princess wouldn't have been taken out." Trina then looked at the officers. "Look, I gotta get back to the swirling melee. You guys, watch them, and if she wakes up grumpy, run." Trina then popped back into the fray.

It was too late. The thugs were beaten. Despite their heavy level of training, they were no match for any of the Champions. "How's Ja.. Murf." Tori asked, but Trina's hand over her mouth made the question hard to understand.

"She'll be fine." Trina said. "Not even a scar. I hate her healing abilities."

"Okay, I heard what you said, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is on rout to confiscate the rockets. But if it's theirs or old Stark tech, then we're still facing the reality that this was anti-heavy armor." Andre said over the communicators.

"What we're facing is that Princess still hasn't mastered the ability to enhance her own defenses. Remember what Seer said. She should have bounced both rockets and been ripping arms off." Guardian said. "Deck's clear, and the stragglers ran into Blitz. I'm thinking our jobs done here."

"Except S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't here to take these guys into custody." Distortion, Andre, said. "Guys, anyone who can live without the sleep, stay. Everyone else, bounce."

"I'm staying." Tori said.

"You need the sleep." Her sister complained.

"Not until I see Princess on her feet.'

"What do you expect, five minutes?" Andre asked.

"I'll stay." Beck said.

"Cheshire, get your sister out of here. Golden girl, you bounce too. Guardian and I will stay and watch these people." Andre said.

"Not to be a buzz kill, but there's evidence of someone watching from the rooftop of one of the warehouses." Robbie's voice cut in. "Satellite coverage is kinda shaky, given that this is an old soviet Satellite. I wasn't able to get a clear view. But I think he's gone now."

"So, Saturday. We finally get access to that nifty base we discovered under the junk yard. How long do you think it was there?" Beck asked. "Did Jade's dad build it for his own purposes?"

"I'm just looking forward to us having our own place." Andre said.

"And me a lab where Tech support can build me a suit." Robbie added.

"Jade's up." Beck noted as one of the agents flew up into the air. "I'll take care of the agent, you make sure she's contained."

"On it." Dre said. He hopped from boat to boat until he reached the one Jade was on. She was wazzed, but contained. It did look, however, like a couple of the thugs had snuck on board and tried to take out the officers. Jade was holding one of them.

"So, you wanna learn how to fly too?" She asked. The man was shaking his head furiously.

"Princess, good work, but you can bounce now. I have this." Andre said. 'What a night. Guess this is our debut.'

"Dude, what did you get on Gradstien's Test?" Beck asked quietly as they waited for S.H.I.E.L.D. to arrive.

Tori walked into the base, feeling a bit better about her day. Maybe Trina was dating a bad boy, but was Jade really much better? The Asgardian princess was short tempered, dangerous, and demanding. But Jade was also caring, deeply affectionate, and always willing to help. 'I just don't know Griffin that well.' She decided. Besides, she'd kicked butt just a couple of days ago.

"So, what do we know about this nifty base that was just left for us under the junk yard?" She heard Sikowitz ask Andre. She put on a quick pulse of speed to join them in the large open entryway.

"So far, we've been unable to identify most of the compounds used in it's construction, and thats scarey, since apparently it was made from the junk above us." Dre informed the teacher. "Oh, hey Chiquita. Whats what?"

"Well, I'm excited cause, a month after Mal and S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered this fun little base all shiny and new, waiting for us, they've finally decided that it's okay for us to move in. I wanna see what their training facilities look like. It's gotta be better then using the junk above us." Tori gushed. She felt like a child in a toy store. The base was cut out from the earth below the junkyard, full of high tech looking devices and futuristic thingies. The walls, like everything else she could figure, were made of some kind of alloy made from the materials available. Only not. She wasn't part of the science core, but she'd always had an interest in science. The base just looked so…. Neat.

"Yea, but while we haven't found anything too worrisome, the base's just too convenient. Also, I doubt we know half of what this place can do." Andre explained. "High tech bases with all the amenities don't just pop up."

"You remember when we talked about your origins?" Sikowitz asked.

"I don't think we have time for an aside." Tori tried.

"Mal, agent Anderson, he said that Jade's brother was this high tech gadgeteer with alien levels of technology." The teacher turned trainer said. "Obviously, he built the base."

"What makes you say that?" Andre asked.

"I surmised it from several clues, all gathered from the report S.H.I.E.L.D. gave us." The quirky Inhuman said. "First, the materials and equipment are either at the height of S.H.I.E.L.D. technology or higher. Her brother is said to have that kind of technology. Second, as you said, it's just so convenient. Why would any of our potential enemies just give this base to us? I know, if it's trapped, then they'd be planning on using this against us some time in the future. But that is dependent on someone knowing we were planning on using this junk yard as a base. And from what I understand, the whole idea of the junk yard came from the fact that Jade's father, the father she shares her brother with, had access to this place. But the biggest clue was the industrial sized Hot Tub. As I recall, Jade loved hot tubs."

Jade walked up to the hidden entrance to the base, Cat just behind her. "Hello? Anyone here?" The goth called out. The automatic doors opened for her, something they hadn't done for anyone else who wasn't wearing an id lanyard.

When the crew first discovered the base, they found three blank lanyards outside. They were able to access just enough of the base to understand what it was, and process a couple of full access lanyards. After the techs looked the base over, they discovered that it had a safety system built in. Only the Inhumans, and as would be later discovered Cat and Jade, could process full access lanyards. Sikwotz was more then willing to help, but his condition was that the base belong to his team. He had no intent of handing this over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Not when his team needed the base. He also looked around once he had his lanyard. But still, the doors never, before that moment, had opened for anyone who didn't either have an access lanyard, or have someone inside open the door for them.

"Okay, maybe there's a logic to what you're saying." Tori admitted as she walked over to hug her girlfriend.

"Have we claimed rooms yet?" Jade asked. "I want one with a big whirlpool jacuzzi bathtub." She smiled at her girlfriend. "And next to yours, if possible. You can help me break in the…."

"You wanna screw, we get it." Cat cut in. "Hi Sikowitz, Hi Andre."

"Where is everyone?" Tori asked.

"Beck and Sinjin are right behind me." Jade said. "They filled Beck's truck with chiz, and are going to head straight to the labs. Sinjin's going to claim one of the labs for him and Courtney. Robbie's acting as a lab assistant until he can get his hands on some powered armor and join in the training."

"I knew the last part." Tori huffed.

"And Cat's here." Cat added, trying to go through some random door. "Phooey. You'd think Adam would have included me in the base Id logs."

"Caaat, tell me what you know." Jade said, looking at her friend.

"Please, it's obvious." The redhead said. "The base just showed up, over night, with everything we'd need, including internal power and a hanger for a Quinjet. I think he should have given us some kind of lightning rail to the shield hangers, but he didn't. Anyways, then all the locks and doors are keyed to open for Jade here. So where's Trina?"

"Out with Griffin again." Tori said, sighing. "He seems like the classic bad boy, and I'm not so sure he's the kind of guy Trina should be getting serious with."

"Cant you just be happy she has someone?" Cat asked.

"You know my theory about handsome, perfect boys." Jade said.

"Said the girl with the biggest secrets." Tori teased. When Jade glared at her, the Latina gave her girlfriends nose a quick kiss.

"You know what I mean." Jade continued.

"Just because a cute boy approached my sister and asked her out, doesn't mean anything." Tori said, hugging Jade with one arm.

"You're right." Jade said. "But based on the way he approached her, I assumed he wanted something."

"Maybe to date her?" Tori asked.

"Or maybe he's a part of whatever group tried to kidnap you." Jade shot back. "Look, a bad boy using Trina for sex, that I get. But I just don't trust this guy. He's Trina's weakness. She isn't thinking, and neither is anyone else since this is Trina actually dating."

"Hurtful." Trina said, materializing in the room.

"How'd you hear that?" Tori asked, fascinated.

"I was temporarily caught in the communication buffers of the base. The defenses are amazing." The teliporter said. "But they weren't designed to keep me out, so I was able to get past the buffers. I did wind up hearing what Jade just said. Are you suggesting it's wrong that he likes me for more then just my awesome looks?"

"I'm saying I never trust the pretty boys. They always have something their hiding." Jade sneered. "And since your part of the team, and I'm dating your sister, I guess I kinda have to worry about what kind of loser you're dating."

"Jade's brother made this base for us." Cat chirped in. By that point, Sikowiz and Andre had shuffled over to join them.

"Okay, everybody, y'all are about to get lanyards. The card on them has a chip that, from what I can tell, matches your genetic markers." Andre said, trying to understand the bases sensors. "Not sure how deep it goes, but if you have the wrong lanyard, you aren't getting through any secured doors. You won't even be able to get through the unsecured doors. And an alarm will hopefully sound. But with the lanyard, you have mostly unrestricted access to the base. So, everyone come and get one. Sikowitz, would you please give Beck, Sinjin, Courtney and Robbie theirs."

"Tori, be a lamb and race up to give our science crew their access lanyards." Sikowitz said.

"Why me?" Tori asked.

"You're fast." The quirky teacher said.

"Why not Trina?" She asked.

"She's going to be busy helping me." The teacher said. Tori huffed, took the lanyards, and raced up to the others. She was amused to see the base opened the door in front of her, allowing her to race through at nearly full speed. Seconds later, with the boys all wearing lanyards, Tori raced back to Sikwoitz. "They have the lanyards, and I gave Sinjin access to the pre-recorded instruction on them."

"Pre-recorded?" Andre asked.

"I recorded what you said, and sent it to them." Tori clarified. "Now, Jade, lets see what your brother gave us."

Beck, meanwhile, was enjoying the new base. "Not much of a view, but the whole thing, it's so high tech." He said as they carried the first load into the base. Beck had a special mini-pallet so he could carry more stuff.

"Don't get too excited about the tech." Courtney said. "I'm betting we don't even have the same level as S.H.I.E.L.D., let alone someone like Stark."

"I'm far more concerned about where this came from." Sinjin commented.

Robbie walked up carrying Rex. "Oh boy, move in day. Anything I can help with? Maybe something like a power suit?"

"Rob, we've been over this." Sinjin said, carrying a load of stuff. "I was working with magnetic fields, and found that muscle mass was a key component. I haven't been able to work on another technology that equals what I'm working on for Beck. However, with the new digs, maybe we can figure something out."

"Besides, I'm loving the eye in the sky advice." Beck added. "Sinj, do you think we can maybe go fore something along those lines? Give him abilities that help with coordinating the team?"

"Like I said, let me see where the tech, and the resources, lead me." Sinjin begged. "But let me warn you, it takes a special kind of person to be a hero, or even wield that kind of power. I mean, look at Jade. She's incredibly strong, tough, and yet the only reason she's one of us is we're her friends. I doubt she'd have volunteered to do anything like this on her own."

"So your saying being a hero isn't in her nature?" Rex asked.

"Not exactly." Courtney said. "I think he's saying that her motivations aren't the same as say, Beck here. Beck wants to help save the world, where as she's in it for her friends. And Tori. Honestly, I didn't see that one coming."

"And you saw her being an Asgardian Princess?" Her brother asked.

"Not exactly." The weird girl said. "But I had an easier time believing that then her falling for Tori."

"So she doesn't come across as gay?" Beck asked. "Or was it the way she treated Tori?"

"Well, the things she did to Tori could be interpreted as denial, or maybe feeling threatened by her own feelings." Courtney started. "But if I'm being totally honest, I'd have thought Jade would have hooked up with someone like Cat, who she could control."

"Except that she loses interest in someone when they become compliant." Beck pointed out. "I had to keep playing games with her to keep her interested. Besides, and I only see it now, Tori and Jade push each other to be their best. It's a mutually beneficial relationship."

"And it's really hot when they kiss." Rex added. When he saw everyone looking at him, he added "It is."

"Okay, which of these labs spaces wants to be ours?" Sinjin asked.

"Why choose one?" Robbie asked. "We have the whole place."

"Okay, then which of these lab spaces wants to be the first one we use?" Sinjin tried again.

"Why not this one?" Courtney asked. "It has the required space, looks like we could put in or build whatever equipment we need, has a computer hub, and it's the first one we came too."

"Sound arguments." Beck agreed. "So, anyone met this Griffin guy? Whats he like?"

"He's hot." Rex said. "What, still secure in myself. Besides, I doubt he's really that much of a bad boy."

"Why do girls like bad boys?" Robbie asked. "And why didn't it ever work for me?"

"They like them because the bad boys are dangerous." Courtney explained. "That makes them exciting. But truthfully, half the girls who date bad boys think they're the one to tame 'em. So many girls racing towards heart break."

Robbie got a text. "Great, my grandmother found out they didn't cancel the internet after all, and wants me to help her figure things out. Guys, I'll stall as long as I can, but I have to take this call."

Robbie walked away from the group, and into one of the rooms. "Okay, Mister Ward, whats can I do for you?"

"I saw what your friends did to my friends at the docks." Grant said. "I was wondering, when can you get me the specifics about them?"

"You want specific?" Robbie asked. "Why didn't you tell me they had man portable anti-ship weapons?"

"I didn't know." The former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent said. "Stark Tech can be… Explosive. On of your friends get hurt?"

"Power Princess, and she'll make you very dead if she finds out you had anything to do with that weapon being there." Robbie warned. "But her life force constantly renews, drawing off some cosmic reserve of energy. She healed from what should have been lethal wounds in minutes. "

"I'm working on finding a way to neutralize her." Grant said.

"And we're working on a way to turn her." Rob shot back. "Look, I know this isn't exactly n equal partnership, but don't diss our contributions. Or our roll."

"I'm not." Grant said. "I have that toy you gave me. One shot, but it could save my life. And probably take out a threat."

"Yea." Robbie said, not sure what to say next. "Look, I have to get back. I'm working my way into their full trust, and I'm hoping to get a line on Guardians tech. But I need to keep working on them, earning their trust, so they'll let me in."

"Okay, if we're going to work together, you should know I know about the new base, at the junkyard." The former operative said. "And I know you were helping carry some equipment in."

"Having me watched?" Robbie asked.

"No, that proved hazardous to my people." Grant replied. "But I did have a couple of known S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists watched, and they led me straight to the place. So which of the kids we've seen walking in have powers."

"You'll know when you need to know." Robbie said.

:}

Hope you enjoyed this. Not sure how long I'll be able to keep updating, but I'm gonna try for weekly.

Reviews make the whole thing easier.


	2. Chapter 2 Moving in

Disclaimer: Don't own.

:}

Jade was walking through the base, enjoying her almost unlimited access. "So unless they lock the door, I can just walk right in?" She was asking.

"Looks like it." Tori sighed. "Look, Jade, we need to respect people's privacy."

"That what locks are for." The goth said, smirking. "Okay Vega, I get it. I won't be just walking into peoples rooms uninvited. I mean, who does that?"

"You did." Tori said, looking slightly miffed. "You walked into my room, sat with my stuff. Back when we were filming 'The Wood.' Or have you forgotten attacking me, knocking over my parents couches, trying to kill me. I swear, if you had your powers then, I could have wound up dead."

"And I hate reminding you, but I did have my powers. Just, you know, blocked. Volintaraly" Jade said, looking oddly calm. "Now hurry up and help me claim a room. Or rather, three. I need to be either next to you, or across the hall. And Cat need to be next to me or across the hall as well."

"You know, exploring is one thing, but shouldn't we give the guys a chance to see the rooms before you go and claim one, or three." Tori lectured.

"Relax, they'll get nice rooms." Jade assured her girlfriend. "Just not next to me. Not if you can help it. So why don't I take the one at the end, and you can be next to me, Cat can be directly across, and either your sister or Courtney can be next to Cat."

"I don't think we're going to be living here." Tori said, a little cautious.

"But we might, for extended training or maybe an acting camp." Jade replied. "Tori, babe, it's just I don't want a creeper in the room next to mine." She reached out and took Tori around the waist, pulling the girl closer. Their lips brushed against each other, and slowly they started to kiss. Tori felt her heart racing, as she slowly moved her hand around her girlfriend and slid over the girls ass. The Latina gave Jade a gentile squeeze, drawing a moan out of the goth.

"Get a room." Trina said as she popped in. "I thought you'd try and sneak off, but to snag the best room. I didn't see Jade here as going for the hanky panky this soon."

"We're not." Tori said as she broke the kiss. The girls were both breathing heavy. "Not unless Jade's ready for a serious commitment."

"No, I'm barely ready for you to have your hand on my ass." Jade told her girlfriend. Pulling out of the embrace and only having an arm around Tori, she turned to look at Trina. "I was thinking I'd take that room on the end, Tori would be across the hall, and Cat would be next to me. You could be next to your sister, and that would guarantee that no creepers would accost me while I'm trying to get to my room."

"And what about me?" Trina asked. "I'm with someone. Do you think I want to be accosted by Sinjin, or Robbie, looking for a date?"

"I kinda like Robbie." Cat said, smiling.

"Yea, but I don't." Trina interjected.

"But you can just pop in and out." Tori pointed out. "No one is going to bother you."

"Good point." Jade said, smirking. "Now, Tori, I'd love to keep up with the tongue wrestling, but neither of us has the self control for it right now."

"Then maybe we should let the guys know what we've been up to?" Tori suggested.

"On it." Trina said as she reached out to take each of the girls next to her by the arm while Tori was still holding Jade. A second later, they were in what looked like a meeting room.

"Ahh girls." Sikowitz greeted them. "I take it you've had a chance to explore. I found an isolated bedroom, near the training room, that I claimed., I hope no one minds, but I enjoy my privacy. I also took the liberty of arranging to have a few coconut trees planted in the hydroponic garden. Have you seen that? It's on sub levels seven and eight."

"Wait, how big is, this base?" Jade, who had been exploring up until she found the rooms, wondered.

"There are nine underground levels, labeled sub levels one through nine. The bottom floor seems to be for power and storage. The top most level hold the entryway, the top of the hanger, and other basic chiz. Level two has the rooms, hanger, and a couple of labs" Andre explained. "I'll bet you didn't think to check how big the base really is. Levles three through five house various training stuff, storage, and a huge training room full of alien tech, including force field and holographic projectors, kinda like they said the Star Trek Hollo-Deck was supposed to have worked."

"Cool!" Robbie said as he joined them. "We've gotten all of this load in. Sinjin and Courtney are off getting the next load. It'd help if we had an elevator."

"We have one." Sikowitz said. "But we're not using it until we're sure the neighborhood is secure. The base, it could just be a club house. But the elevator is part of the hanger systems, and it's kinda huge."

"So, this alien training equipment," Beck asked, "Have we figured out how to use it yet?"

"We're working on it." Andre replied. "But even without the simulated threats, the rooms the bomb for all kinds of training."

"I still don't fully trust it." Mal said as he spoke up. "But the suits think it's safe, so we're giving it to you."

"Personally, I can't wait until Sinjin figures out how to use the lab for all kinds of high tech gadgets." Robbie gushed.

"And I have to bounce." Tori said. "I'm meeting Mason about an appearance."

"Why the sudden interest in you again?" Andre asked.

"His other hot new thing didn't take, so he wants me to make a few more appearances." Tori replied. "Hey, I get to sing."

"And I'm working real hard not to be jealous." Jade added. Tori giggled and leaned in for a kiss, only for her girlfriend to pull back. "It's still a work in progress. I mean, I'm into you, but I can't be happy for you just yet. I mean, that could have been me."

Tori pulsed her speed, placing a lightning fast kiss on Jade's cheek before racing off. "See ya, Babe." She cried as she disappeared out the door.

"I'd better catch up." Trina said. "I'm her ride. But hay, bright side, I'm showing Griffin the studio, so it's not a total loss. Don't fret, Jade, I'll be making up for all kissing you'll be missing, thanks to his sweet lips."

The rest of the move in happened relatively smoothly, with Sinjin and Courtney making over a dozen trips to get all their gear set up in the new base. "Looks like there's plenty of power for the base. So, we know what's generating that power?" Robbie asked.

"From what S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists have been able to figure, the power is a side effect of normal gravitational sheering along with continental drift. Not sure how, but it seems to be siphoning off some of the energy generated by the moments of the various faults under LA, and thats about as much as I understand. But, by doing that, we'd have immense power available. Somethings got to be regulating everything, keeping us from having power surges large enough to wipe out the neighborhood. I'm talking about the energy needed to move a tectonic plate up to half an inch, or roughly the equivalent of a small atomic bomb... I'm guessing there's a highly advanced computer somewhere involved in this process, keeping the power flowing, and probably helping security as well." Sinjin surmised.

"Could this computer be hacked?" Robbie asked.

"I suppose, but I'm assuming it's as complex as anything Tony Stark built, and probably defended as heavily as any alien military computer. I'm guessing it's probably safe." Sinjin said.

"It would have to be as advanced as an AI, probably with slave software." Courtney added. "Lets hope it stays on our side."

"Agreed." Robbie said.

"Hey guys, I'm going out to meet a snitch." Andre announced. "I'll probably go home from there, check up on my grandma. If I need help, I'll give you guys a buzz. Tell Beck I hope not to run into him, since snitches be jumpy." Then the agent in training left to go seek his informant.

"How come I hadn't heard about this guy?" Robbie asked Sinjin.

"Cause your not a field agent." Courtney said. "It's not like they tell me or Sinjin anything either."

"Yea, right." Rob said. "It's probably nothing."

Beck was meeting with Sikoswitz about a project. "So, anyways, thats the scope of it. I think it'll be better then 'The Blond Squad', and we won't have to worry about using any birds."

"As much as I enjoy hearing about your new projects, I'm theater. Thats film." The teacher pointed out.

"But your also the events coordinator." Beck said. "You give the thumbs up, and this is almost guaranteed to happen."

"I suppose." The quirky teacher said. "So, how are you going to fit this in between patrolling, training, and classes?"

"I'll have to pull back a bit on the patrolling." Beck admitted sheepishly. "Not that I was making that big a difference anyways. One super is no substitute for an entire police force. But I suspect we'd do a lot better if we used Robbie's satellites to look for crime, and responded to that."

"I'll talk to him." Sikowitz said. "But I think he's using an old Russian spy satellite. It's going to take a heck of a search program to sort through the images we get and allow us to pinpoint active crimes. Then there's the whole privacy issue."

"We set the parameters to only alert us of crimes happening in public, like in ally's, and hope that the police can deal with the rest." The Canadian hero said. "But this is starting to look like a major programing job. Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. would be willing to help?"

"I think they wold." Sikowitz said. "But I wouldn't trust them with that kind of program. Lets see what Sinjin can come up with before we go to far. And as for this film, I think you'll have a hard time getting your friend to do another one."

"Nahh, it'll be easy." Beck said. "I just need to remember what motivates them. Jade is always willing to help a friend. Cat and Tori both love acting and helping out. The hard part will be the male rolls. Andre's great, and Robbie's unexpectedly capable, but thats only two guys. I need one more."

"Why not do it yourself?" The teacher asked.

"Cause I'm not sure how to direct and not be watching the playback screen." He admitted.

"You need a cinematographer you can trust, and to look at every take immediately during the reset." Sikowitz explained. "Or, you could just cast someone to play the other male lead."

"I think I'll hold an open casting Monday after school." Beck announced. The quirky teacher just nodded.

Tori was having trouble concentrating on her meeting. Instead of meeting in Masons office, they were meeting in one of the recording studios. But as much as Tori enjoyed the thought of recording music, making an album, Trina and Griffin were just outside making faces through the glass.

"So I was thinking, for the album, we embrace the new normal. We record one song at a time, and release them on line, on Peartunes." Mason's producer was saying. "But at the same time, if we record anything we don't think is gonna sell, but is good enough, we put that on the album, call it a bonus track. That way, we can put together the album, and be raking in cash as we do it."

"The only problem is I'm still in school." Tori pointed out. "Wouldn't I need to be able to promote the music, like constantly?"

"And that was why we were originally going to wait to try and sell you." Mason said, not happy about the resent turn of events. "However, we can do other things to promote your music. Video is one option, but we all know how many of the so called music channels have shifted away from playing videos. Don't get me wrong, we still need a video for each song we try and push. It's just, thats no longer enough. Now, we need to find some way to keep you almost constantly in the news cycles."

"Thats the beauty of this plan." The producer said. "We get her on a reality TV show, and they'll be watching her constantly."

"You'll what now?" Tori asked, peeling her eyes away from her sister who was making faces against the glass.

"I was thinking, a reality show could..." He started.

"No." Echoed Tori and Mason.

"If we're going to keep me in the news, we need to keep my face out there." Tori said. "Maybe I just start a blog, cover chiz people want to hear about."

"Like?" Mason asked.

"You know, just rumors and chiz. Maybe a weekly report about the happenings in Hollywood." The Latina suggested.

"You do have the connections to give her the inside scoop." The producer said.

"Except I don't like that idea." Mason said. "And its been done. No, we'd need to keep her music out there, find a way to get people to hear it all the time."

"You go to a TV show thats filmed around here, and have her as a regular guest." Trina's voice cut in. The girl was in the control booth, and had discovered the intercom. "You dress it up, so she doesn't have to present a new song every week. Instead, have her help with a skit, or something, and she becomes a regular. I'm thinking the Tonight show, or something like that. They film locally, don't start until later, and she would only need to commit one day per week."

"Okay, someone needs to help me." Mason said. "The untalented one had a good idea. Of course, it normally wouldn't work, but I could talk to their producer and see if maybe I could talk them into having her as a recurring guest. And I like the part about the skits. Have her, or one of her friends, write a sketch for each week, and we'll have them put her on in them. Whatever celebrities they have would fill out the cast. Like the old, classic Johnny Carson skits."

"But who'd write them?" Griffin asked. "Oh, yea, Treen here would. I hear you write some funny stuff, like your one woman play from last year. I heart that was a hoot."

"We'd have a professional work with her, but skits written by her sister, that makes an interesting hook." The producer said. "What do you think, mister Thornsmith?"

"I think I can sell it, and thats what maters." Then he turned to Tori. "Tori, you start writing and recording music. When you have the song, come in and record it. I'll talk to PR, see if we can arrange the skits. You'd sing some weeks, and perform skits the others. Trina will get a writers credit, and we'll get a ghost writer to make sure her work is worth seeing. But we won't rush that, instead having Tori here make a couple of appearances, like that party we're having in New York. You can miss one or two days of school, right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Good, then it's settled. Tori, get your song writing team together, and have your untalented sister work on some skits. We want enough that we can sell them on a full summer's worth as we get things recorded. And we'll hopefully have a couple of remixes to sell as well."

Griffin smiled. "You know, you could have insisted on being a part of the skits." He said.

"Oh, I will." Trina replied. "I will, but for now, I'm willing to let them do all the hard work of setting things up, and when the time comes, with my TV experience, I'll make my splash on national TV. Now, I was in the middle of showing you how this chiz works."

"About that?" The handsome boy asked. "How DO you know how this stuff works?"

Trina sighed. "Hollywood Arts is a very complete program." She replied. "Everyone has to take unrelated tech and behind the scenes chiz to get into the really fun classes. I took sound recording to get into jazz dance."

"That… Wait, why?" He asked.

"Cause they want us to take these useless classes, figure out how these sound boards work, and the only way to make sure we do is to make us." The busty girl explained. "But I'm guessing it wasn't totally useless, given that I know what most of this chiz does. I can work the board, even mix the music, some. But I'm not an audio engineer, and you'd be amazed what they can do with this equipment."

"Enough talking." Griffin said. "Lets go find a place where we can make out and make celebrities uncomfortable."

Later, after shaking the tail he wasn't sure was there, Andre showed up at the park where he'd agreed to meet. "Okay, I'm here, next to the now locked bathrooms." He called out, and he saw movement in his peripheral vision. Under his cloths, his combat suit was ready in case of trouble, but without the mask he didn't have access to the complete sensory readout.

Of course, Andre wasn't a fool. He'd arranged backup, from the local S.H.I.E.L.D base, and only agents they knew they could trust implicitly. If this turned out to be right, then there could well be a serpent at their heart, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Turned out the movement was a homeless man moving away from the sturdy looking teen. Andre waited for several more minutes as the park grew quiet. "Agent Harris, I'm so glad you came." The voice was odd, almost dopy, but whispered with a fierce determination that felt alien to the boy. "I can't give you the details, not yet, but one of the people you trust has been compromised. They've made contact with the enemy, and are conspiring against you."

"Okay, how do I know your telling the truth?" The young musician asked. "And how can I trust you?"

"Both good questions." The voice said. "I'm close to the one who's been turned, and an enemy of the one pulling his strings. But if I tell you too much, before you're ready, you'll go after them, and wind up dead. The traitor, their not innocent, but being used. But they're also more powerful then they pretend to be, with resources and abilities you wouldn't dream of. Also, I have reason to believe they've made contact with Hydra, and are plotting to help that organization."

"You're not giving me much." Andre pointed out. "Almost nothing."

"Grant Ward was in LA less then a week ago, and received something dangerous. I don't know the details, but I think it's some kind of fail safe device." The voice said. "Mystic, dangerous. Also, I must point out that coat of yours, really stylish. Make's you look all mysterious. It's a good look on you."

"Thanks, I like the coat too. It's important to look good, you know. But, you were saying, they gave Grant Ward, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and brother to a dead senator, some kind of fail safe device?" Andre asked. "What does it do?"

"Like I said, not sure." The voice said. "I'll try to find out. Listen, I'm not in the inner circle, had to adapt a way to keep myself close, so I could find out more. But this Hydra thing, it's just wrong. I'll let you know what I find out, and maybe you won't get hurt by whatever they have up their sleeves. But for now, I just need to know I have an ally."

"Magic, huh?" Andre said. "Oh god, it's Jade, isn't it?"

"You'd think so, given who her father is." The voice said. "And if you don't know, do some research. According to myth, how many brothers does Thor have? I'll let you think about that, cause Jade isn't a threat, yet. Whet she is, is a weapon. They want to turn her, looking for her weakness. So no mater how secure whatever she wants is, keep an eye on it. I expect they'll find a way to use that to make her your enemy. Just out of curiosity, she's not the strongest, or most powerful, in your group, is she?"

"I don't think so." Andre said. "At least, not yet. But she's powerful, like Thor. She doesn't have his hammer, but she has other abilities that make up for it. And yea, she's physically the strongest. So, that makes me more nervous. And being nervous, I need to ask, how can I trust you?"

"If I weren't so sure you do something stupid, I'd tell you who I am." The voice said. "But my enemy is using resources far smarter then anyone thought they were, planning and making contingencies. I expect their creating, or recruiting, assets that can take on even your group. Expect trouble. And as for giving you something so you know you can trust me, I know Sinjin Van Cleef is your resident inventor, the one behind Beck's suit. His sister, Courtney, however, is an essential piece of the equation, and without her, his theories might never come to fruition. Good enough?"

"Good enough." Andre said.

"I'll be in touch, letting you know when I have more." The voice, reminiscent of Howdy Doody, said. "It's just good to have an ally in this fight."

:}

Okay, lots of setup, and not much else. But hey, it's a process.

Review, let me know what you think


	3. Chapter 3 Things start happening

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or S.H.I.E.L.D. I just put them together, add a bit of fantacy, and write. Also, this was conceived before the new season of Agenmts of S.H.I.E.L.D. so things may not fit. The L.A. Police, for example work with S.H.I.E.L.D., even as the general public doesn't know their back.

:}

The thugs ran, fast. A natural reaction when you consider they were being chased by the police. But they weren't running in hopes of getting away. No, they were luring the cops into a trap. Something intense, bought from an ex Hydra agent, was waiting for them just around the corner. Seconds later, they ducked behind a dumpster and their friend used the device they'd bought, swapped in return for helping the man get away from the Hydra kill squad looking for him, on the police. Laughter echoed as they slipped away in the confusion cause by the sudden mutation of the police officers.

They didn't get far. "What do we have here?" Guardian asked. "Some kind of weapon? Looks all high tech. Maybe I should be carrying that?"

"You can stop us, or save the people from the police." One of the thugs said. "The ray de-eveolved them into some kind of primate monster. I'll bet their going all cave man on the public even as we speak."

Beck knew there wasn't a moment to waste, and rushed off after the three cops who were now a threat to the civilian population. He called the situation in as he flew off. "I need backup, now."

"On the way." Came the reply. Beck didn't have time to think, he had three primitive man ape's heading off in different directions.

The thugs high fived each other, smiling. "Now the locals will find out why we hate the pigs, and we'll get to use this toy again."

"Assuming you make it out of here." Cheshire said. She did a quick short pop into the midst of them and started hitting. Whenever she struck, she'd then pop to a new location, allowing her to effectively flank them as she brought them down one at a time. Before any of them could realize just how out matched they were, all four men were down and out. "Um, You keep an eye on these guys, maybe tie them up." She said to her companion. "I'm gonna help Guardian."

Guardian had chased down one of the officers, and pulled him off of some poor lady who had stopped at a store to pick up dinner. Now her food was scattered all over the place as the man ape tried to eat. It was also thinking of other things.

Beck peeled it off of her, and it swung on him. His defensive shield wasn't at full, so he felt the blow. Staggered, he almost let go of the cop. "Guess you're gonna need to be subdued, just a bit." He said, and he gave the officer a gentile taiser jolt. That bought him enough time to take to the air and find the other one. The hero found the second man ape chasing a dog, looking to make a meal out of the poor pet.

"Halt." He called out. "Thats a purse dog, not a snack." With that, he flew towards the other officer. 'Though to tell the truth, that dog is probably better off running on it's stubby little legs.'

The second man ape leaped to try and catch Beck off guard. But this time, he had his defensive field at full power, and the force of the blow was deflected. Beck then picked up the second officer and started flying towards the ally where this whole thing had started.

That was when the first devolved officer started waking up. 'Great, now I have two awake beasts on my hands, and I probably shouldn't shock them until I know how much they can take. I might have hurt the first one.' Guardian decided to check. "Tech Support, my taser pulse, does it do permanent damage?"

He didn't get an immediate response. 'Come on Sinjin, I need answers.'

Trina was able to make several short pops to high places so she could look around. Soon, she spotted one of the man apes, and popped over to where he was. She ducked his wild swing, and grabbed him long enough to pop him back to the dumpster. She then used her hips to power an over the head suplex like maneuver to toss the cop into the dumpster. "Thats one." She said.

"They won't stay there." Beck said as he approached with two others. His strength was enough to hold them, but they were struggling fiercely. "Lets wrap this up and see what tech support can do about undoing the effects of that gun."

"Good thing I captured the thugs first." Cheshire bragged.

"Lets hope they haven't taken off while you were hunting the rogue man ape down." Beck said.

"It's okay." She replied. "I brought someone to watch them."

"We probably could have used the help in finding the de-evolved cops first." Beck said. "Who's with you."

"Um, we don't have a code name for him yet." Trina said. "It's my man."

"You brought a date to a fight?" Beck asked. "Wait, he knows about you? About us?"

"No us, just me, and Tori. I lied, told him Power Princess was someone less Gothic." She explained. "But it's okay, he can keep a secret. Like how he's a bad boy with a heart of gold. The perfect boy."

They closed on where the thugs were tied up, and Beck recovered the large de-evolver. "Tech support, do you read me? We have a device for you to look over."

"Are we really going with Tech Support?" Trina asked. "I mean, couldn't we find a better code name for them?"

"Who's Tech support?" Griffin asked. He was wearing a hoodie and dark glasses to avoid being recognized.

"Our technical team." Trina said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. trained, and fully equipped to help us keep our gear up to date. Bunch of old, stuffy guys who ride heard on a few young inverters. Together, they keep us in the tech stuff. Also, they study whatever we have to bring in."

"Like that thing?" The handsome bad boy asked. "I'd have loved to have something like this, back in school. I'd have had so much fun helping the frogs escape. Did you know they electrocute the frogs you dissect? Just place the electrodes in their tank, and zap em."

"Control, we have a problem." Beck said quietly. "Cheshire brought a date to the fight."

"Bring in the cops, and the thugs." They heard from Mal. "Drop them off at S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters, then you can call it a night. I'll inform Seer and the others later."

"Okay, we drop these guys off at S.H.I.E.L.D. and then you can get back to whatever you were doing." Beck confirmed. "And Cheshire, we need to talk, later. Okay?"

"Sure, but don't worry about my man." She replied. "He can keep a secret."

They were able to drop the thugs, and the cops, off at the L.A. S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and get back to their respective homes quickly, thanks to Trina's ability to teliport. Once they were safely back home, Trina saw Tori on the phone.

"Hay sista, how life?" The older girl asked. Griffin was right behind her.

"You brought him to a fight?" Tori asked, shock clear on the younger girls face.

"I was on a date, and I could respond faster then anyone." Trina pointed out. "Even you. And with your crazy new schedule, I thought I was helping."

"I appreciate the gesture." Tori said. "But next time, just sneak off to the rest room and go from there."

"Jade here?" Trina asked. Griffin was already raiding the frig.

"She just left." Tori said. "Said she had some chiz to do. You know, you could have taken her. She might have needed some action to get over herself."

"Cause of your career happening and her still being in High school?" Griffin asked. "Just so you know, you could have given her all the action she could handle."

'CRAP! I FORGOT, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO JADE IS!' Tori screamed at herself. "You're right, it's probably better she didn't go." Tori said. "She'd just be in danger, and you know we shouldn't be bringing civilians into danger."

"Right." Trina agreed. "I just, I wanted him to know I could handle stuff myself. I was fine, all heroing and chiz out there."

"I know." Tori said. "Hey, Griffin, why don't you head home?"

"It's still early." He said.

"But it's a school night, and I think Trina and I need our sleep." Tori reasoned.

"Or I could spend the night." He suggested.

"Go, or I call Jade back." Tori warned. 'She's dangerous even without her powers, so the threat works.' She reasoned, hoping that was enough to convince the bad boy to move along.

"I'm going." He said. "No need to sick your man on me."

"Call me when you get home." Trina said. "Maybe we can video chat."

"Trina, please, we have chiz to do." Tori tried.

"I'll text you." Trina called.

Beck got home, and found Courtney waiting for him. "So how'd things go with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" she asked.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked.

"Your mom let me in." The nerdy but cute girl said. "I was thinking, now that we have the resources, we should re-do your trailer. Maybe add some chiz."

"Unless you find a way to add space, we won't be able to add much, and I still have to live here." Beck replied. "I'm getting changed."

"No problem." Courtney said. "I was thinking, at the very least, a way in and out that you can use while in costume, so you don't draw too much attention. Maybe a camouflage system."

"You can build that?" He asked.

"Let me get Sinjin on it. I'm great support, but we need him to get the ideas started." She looked out the window. "I just want to protect this, your family and friends, from your second life."

"I appreciate that." Beck said. "You can turn around now. I'm in the bathroom."

"I was thinking, maybe we could find some way for you to pop in and out, but maybe the best idea is a secondary entrance, and a temporary underground access point." She said. "You excel at digging, so a tunnel isn't a problem."

"But we don't know what's under the driveway." Beck warned. "I could be tunneling through a high use phone wire, or maybe someone's power. Worse, I could be tunneling through the septic tank."

"Your point?" Courtney asked.

"I like the idea, but we need to know what's under us before I just go tunneling. I would like it if we had something so I could slip out and in without having to use my parents home as a staging area. Maybe added protection so no one can follow me home."

Courtney wasn't looking. She was checking her phone instead. "Looks like we found out why that de-eviloution ray was such a bargain. Apparently the effects are temporary, and I do mean temporary. Only lasts about twenty minutes or so. The officers are all fine, and as soon as we're sure they won't have any long term side effects, they will be allowed to go home."

"Any idea on how that thing worked?" Beck asked.

"Thats just it." The scientific girl said. "It shouldn't have worked. They found a way to affect the genetics of their target, with a ray, and it's only temporary? That just doesn't make sense. I'll ask Sinjin, he'll have a theory. But for now, I'm worried that they were doing research in that field."

"Why?" Beck asked. "I just assumed it's part of their attempts to make their own super humans. Everyone is gonna want to be able to figure out how to make… us, as soon as yesterday."

"And we have to be ready to stop them before they figure out how." Courtney said. "I'm going home. Say by to your mother for me."

Beck watched her leave, and walked over to the house. "Mom, Dad, whats under the driveway?" He asked.

"We don't know." His father said. "So, who's your new girlfriend. Not nearly as aggressive as the last one. Not as pretty either."

"She's Sinjin's sister." Beck said.

"Always complicated when you date a friends sister." His father quiped. "Still, I'll trade pretty for less homicidal any day. So, Jade in jail yet?"

"She's dating Tori." He said. "You remember Tori, right?"

"Pretty Latina, helped Gothica put a viscous attack dog in your mobile home." The older man said. "Yea, I think I kinda remember her."

Beck sighed. "I'm not dating Courtney." He said, frustration lacing his voice, pushing the normally calm boys towards agitation. Once again, no one can push buttons like a parent.

Tori was far too happy to see Jade when she got to school the next day. "Sorry about cutting out like that." Jade said, offering Tori a flower. "I just needed some space. This whole Mason thing is driving me crazy. I don't want to be jealous, but I am."

"I get it." Tori said, taking the flower. "I always seem to get what I want, and that includes most breaks and opportunities. Only bad luck around my auditions has kept me from landing a major roll by now, and this skit thing is gonna help both my music career and keep me in the limelight. The flower is lovely, by the way."

Tori stepped closer, knowing that this was Jade apologizing. "I could be jealous too." Tori leaned in and whispered. "A princess? I dreamed of being a princess when I was a kid." Then she pulled her head back to talk again.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be, Vega." Jade said. "And I found the flower growing along the side of the road, figured it didn't belong to anyone, so I used one of my older pairs of scissors to cut it for you. But I'm trying, looking at the reality. I'm good enough. I'll have my breaks. You can't direct worth spit, so I'll probably get my start there."

"You're getting your start as an auxiliary player." Tori said. "You can do male and female voices, and you can act like crazy. I'm thinking, when we need an extra player, with this late night skit chiz, I'll bring you in. Assuming we're not saving the world and chiz. And flower's pretty, but flowers mean more when you put some effort into them. Buying, or growing them."

"So I get to be your employe?" Jade asked.

"I thought of it as a girlfriend doing me a favor, as I help her out at the same time." Tori said, leaning in to place a light kiss on Jade's nose.

"It's gonna take a lot more then a kiss on the shnoz to make it up to me." Jade huffed. "But if it means that much to you... And won't Trina expect to be an auxiliary player?"

"She is thinking that." Tori said. "But she's limited in her acting ability. I think writing is more her speed. With Robbie helping with the funny, it should work out."

"Except Robbie isn't funny. Not deliberately. Not when he's not making fun of himself." Jade said. "I suppose I could help with the writing as well, help shape what Trina is writing, get her focused." Jade smiled at her girlfriend. She knew Tori was just trying to give her something, so she wouldn't be so jealous. "And the flower, I did put in the work. Do you know how hard it was to look over fences until I found the perfect flower. Then I had take care while cutting it, making sure I didn't lose anything while transporting it here. I worked hard for that flower."

"Fences?" Tori said, not amused. "You said you found it along the side of the road. It was abandoned, alone."

"Flowers along the road are state property." Jade said. "Taking one is a much more serious offense then grabbing one from the back of someone's yard."

"And how do you know that?" Tori asked.

"I, um, I may have known people who've done this in the past." Jade admitted. "Not me, cause you know how I usually feel about flowers. But people. And I thought you'd just be happy I was thinking about you."

Tori sighed. "I am." She said. "I was and I am. I just don't want you to start down that slippery sloap that leads to crime."

"Like my dad." Jade said.

"I thought he was an Asgardian Prince." Tori said.

"Oh, look at the time." Jade said quickly. "Gotta get to class."

"I want to know more about your family, Jade." Tori warned. "So, what are you hiding."

"Jade, did you hear?" Sinjin asked as he walked up to them. "Trina brought a date."

"Yea, Trina's dating. I'm dating. Your fantasy life is over." Jade snapped.

"But she brought a date out to backup Beck." He said.

"What?' Jade said in a stage whisper.

"You're right." Tori said quickly. "We should have that talk later. Got to get to class. See ya." And she was gone. The Latina had to keep from shifting into her hyper mode in school, but that didn't stop her from fast walking to class.

The day progressed far too quickly for Tori, who wanted to talk to Trina about last night before she addressed her friends. "Ping Pong Club meeting during lunch." Andre told her. "We're going over a few things for the next big tournament."

"Ping Pong Room?" Tori asked.

"Sikowitz's class." The musician replied. "Tell Jade if you see her. Or text her. Whatever, just, you two good, cause if you've been fighting I'm not sure I want to approach her."

"We're good." Tori said. "Just a couple of little things need to be cleared up."

"Maybe this will help." Andre said. "Look up Norse Mythology, and see how many brothers Thor had."

"How many." Tori asked.

"Look, I could tell you, but then Jade might suspect I told you, and I don't think this is the kind of thing she wants us to know." Andre warned in a low voice. "Think about it. She's never mentioned her father by name, just he's Thors brother."

Tori texted Jade about the meeting, and manage to look up mythology, all during the breaks between classes. By lunch, she was ready to face both of their family problems. "Good afternoon, my little mutants." Sikowitz announced as he entered his own room, carrying a his lunch.

"Trina, care to explain why you brought a date to a fight?" Andre opened.

"He wanted to see me in action." Trina explained. "And I didn't expose anyone but me."

"You exposed your sister." Beck pointed out.

"No, she asked before she told him about her powers." Tori said. "I wasn't happy about telling him, but I was cool with it. Especially since he had rumors of tales of blue angels in his family history too. Doesn't mean he's an inhuman. He could have gained that myth from any one of a dozen sources. Also, there are people with inhuman DNA out there who don't even have the oral history."

"So you felt okay telling hm your biggest secret, and while your at it, you let hm know you're part of a S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliated team, and sometimes you go fight bad guys." Andre lectured.

"It's okay." Sikowitz said. "I'm amazed the boy waited this long to find out. A handsome boy like that, taking an interest in Trina here, I assumed he'd have found out about how she spends her time a week ago. No, it does put two of ours in danger, that is unless you've shared anything about the rest of us."

"No, only me and Tori." Trina assured them. "And I'd have skipped over Tori, but he was bound to guess she could do something."

"Or you could tell him she was never exposed to the mists." Jade said. "But I get it. You have no idea how relieved I was when I could finaly tell anyone about my family history."

"Speaking of." Tori started.

"Jade's probably Loki's daughter." Andre said as if filling in a blank spot in an oral report. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s known for a while now. But we don't hold what the father did against you. Not the invasion of New york, or whatever else the man has done. And I believe he did quite a lot."

"Thanks." Jade said. "So, to be clear, my dad's my dad. Whatever he did in the past, we let that go. I always wanted to be good enough for his love, and I found out he was stuck in the same problem with my grandfather. Meanwhile, my brother goes out and becomes a mercenary tech. I didn't even know such a thing existed. So yea, I have a screwed up past. But Trina, just so you know, I don't trust this Griffin, if that is his real name."

"It is." Andre said. "We did a background check on him. After the Vega girls leave, I'll share some of the dirt." Then to Trina. "So she won't feel like giving him a scissor based intervention."

"Now, on to other bits of business." Beck said. "I talked to the S.H.I.E.L.D., and they said last night was more worrisome then just the tech falling into the hands of nobodies. If Hydra is hunting down their ex scientists, that means they're back, as in a functioning entity again. As of this moment, we're on the lookout for anyone affiliated with Hydra. We need information, cause they are seriously dangerous."

:}

Okay, a little action, a few threads that may or may not lead to things, and just a taste of drama. I know, it's not the best, but I did get Jade's ancestry out in the open here.

So, review. Otherwise, I might send someone with a de-evolutionizer after you.


	4. Chapter 4 A day at the farmers market

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Marvel, or any of their characters. I'm just playing mash-up, and sharing the results.

:}

The farmers market was in shambles after the giant rat man, along with his following of rats and wild dogs, showed up to "Forage." They chased people off, ate what they wanted of the produce, and in general were a pain for the unfortunate police officers who tried to stop them. The dogs were the worst, needing meat. But the rat man seemed not to worry about what he was eating, and was soon threatening a baby in a carriage.

"Fresh meat." He said. "It's always the way. The strong survive, and the weak perish. My brothers will feast tonight."

"How do you know that kid's gonna grow up to be weak?" Power Princess asked. Jade had been at the farmers market to catch the free music. The bands were free, usually fairly talented, but always live, and how could she resist live music. It was also a way to kill time after school until Tori finished today's writing session with Andre. "And if the child has someone to protect it, is the child weak?"

"Get her, my minions!" The rat man called out. The wild dogs moved towards her, while a small sea of gray fur advanced from all around her.

"You know, rats, in large numbers, are a threat to most people." Jade commented. "But I have enough power to deal with the likes of you."

She reached back behind her to pick up a display table and tossed it towards the oncoming mass of fur. The table was sturdy, meant to hold hundreds of pounds worth of merchandise, but backed by the Asgardian's strength easily shattered as it crushed the first ranks of the advancing army of rats.

But the carpet of death continued to move forward. Jade was forced to take to the air, so as not to be buried under the growing mass of the rat swarm. But as she rose, she saw something that made everything make more sense. 'He's not summoning the rats, he's making them.'

Rats seemed to pour out of his legs, gray shadows that quickly formed into the vermin. There were real rats too, joining into the growing mass. Those rats, drawn by a form of rodent group think, were coming out of the sewers and buildings to join in, augmenting the vast army of shadow rats. Jade suspected that the majority of the rats were created, and that mass was what let him control the rest. 'Stop him, and most of the rats go away.'

Decided on her course of action, Jade charged his position. The divot she left in the ground was noticeable, even as the ground shook from the impact. "Typical. Didn't expect me to be able to get out of the way, did you?" The rat man taunted.

Almost too quickly the sea of rats shifted to flow back over her. For several seconds Power Princess disappeared under the swirling mass of gray fur. An echo of her screams was the only reminder that a hero had risen to challenge this freak. Then the mass rose, still swirling, but now rats were dripping off of it as she took to the air. Next Jade started to spin, fast, and the rats started to lose hold on the mass. Soon there were rats hurling in all directions. As the now dizzy hero slowed to a stop, not a single rat had held on. Instead, they had splatted against the buildings that lined the street, or whatever else they'd impacted. The centrifugal force had launched them at a deadly velocity.

"Okay, you're quicker then I gave you credit for, but I have news for you. My skin is like armor, and your rats couldn't bite through it." Jade announced, doing the best to hide how dizzy she was.

"Given time, they can chew through even cement." The rat man said. "You got lucky, but your mission suit didn't. I see holes."

"Perve." Jade said as she flew down. Once again, he dodged, but she didn't try and land a blow, just closed until she was within hand to hand range. Once there, Jade superior skills and combat training allowed her to guess where he was gonna go. She faked one direction to make him dodge the other, then grappled him. Then she held on with all her immense power.

He was strong. Far stronger then a normal man. Unfortunately for him, Jade was far far stronger then he was. She held on to his attempts to break free, allowed his claws to leave angry red trails along her flesh, and started to squeeze the rat man in a bear hug. Seconds passed and his struggles grew less and less forceful, until he stopped moving all together.

Jade wanted to just drop him. Unfortunately, she'd been gaining altitude during the struggle, to avoid letting any of his rat friends get to close. Now she was a good sixty feet off the ground, and dropping him could do even more damage. Instead, she slowly lowered herself to the ground.

The rats were fading, except for the surviving real ones, who grabbed a belly full and ran off. The dogs, to the last one, faded from view. Jade checked and found a pulse, so she decided to call this one in. Activating the radio in her helmet, she said "Okay, I have a freaky Rat Man at the farmers market at Hollywood and Oaks."

"Okay, before you engage, make sure he's alone." Robbie replied, letting her know that their control was on line..

"I, um, already engaged. Fights over. I just need someone to come do cleanup." Jade admitted.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'S on the way." Robbie said. "I'm getting the satellite image now, and... holy chiz. Jade, please try to show more restraint in the future. That place looks trashed."

"In my defense, not all of that was me." Power Princess said. "Eta on backup?"

"Five minutes." Robbie said.

Jade dumped the unconscious rat man off on the first S.H.I.R.L.D. agent on the scene, and took off. They would have to get her statement later. Luckily for them, the news and just about everyone interested in the fight, there were about a dozen phone camera videos of the coflict, including the "rain of rats", where Jade's rat shower turned the small rodents into deadly flying weapons. No one was hurt, since most of them had taken cover, but there were a lot of broken windows and other damage cause by that maneuver. Evidence of how dangerous it could be to be so close to a battle between powered individuals.

Later, when Jade had gone to the base to report, she was confronted by Sikowitz. "Jade, I'm going to try and teach you how to use your life force to to somehow repel rodents or similar things. We got lucky no one was seriously hurt. At lest not by you. But next time, we might not be so lucky. We don't need the press reporting we were careless, and people got hurt by the rat shrapnel." He paused for a second. "Ratpnal?"

"Really?" Agent Malcolm Anderson asked. "We're really going to stop in the middle of reprimanding her for being careless to try and come up with a name for the flying rats?"

"Flying rats makes it sound too much like they were doing it." Sikowitz said. "No, Ratpnal sounds a little silly, but it's a better description of what happened."

"Thats not the point." Mal almost screamed. The normally calm and disciplined S.H.I.E.L.D agent was having trouble controlling his emotions now. "The point is, this isn't a game. Stop treating it like a fucking game."

"Language please." Sikowitz said. "And Mal, you need to calm down about this. Jade was just trying something original, figuring out what was the best way to deal with a situation. Something none of us, S.H.I.E.L.D. included, had thought of. So yes, it was dangerous, and we got lucky. I'm just going to make sure that there is no next time. And Jade, how in the name of Gandhi did you manage not to wind up dizzy as hell after that move?"

"I didn't." Jade replied. "When I closed, I was also recovering. Took extra long so I'd be able to function. Still, I got him, and was squeezing before I could totally see straight again."

"Then why did you engage?' Mal asked.

"So the rats wouldn't eat any babies." Jade replied, keeping her voice sweet and a smile on her face.

"Okay, I get it." Mal said. "But that brings me to the reason we're needing this meeting."

"It's just us." Jade said. "You, me, and Sikowitz."

"The others couldn't make it." Mal said, sighing. "But the point is, and you all need to learn this, we need to be more professional. Think before we act."

"Not bring a date to a potential fight?" Jade cut in. "I think we get that. It's just, with the exception of Andre, who's not here, none of us were trained to think like you. We're volunteer, working together, learning. We're gonna make mistakes. I mean, sure, Griffin's a bad boy, even if he's into Pee Wee Babies, but he has some bad boy cred. But taking him to a battle, even if it's only to observe, not smart."

"Exactly." Mal agreed. "And I think, maybe, Sikowitz here could use help training you."

"No." The teacher said flatly. "Before you say anything, lets point out the flaw in your plan. These are kids. Talented kids who are used to being creative. The military approach won't be appreciated by most of them. And it won't work. These kids have to be handled very carefully. Their learning to make the most of their powers, their abilities, and each other. I agree they need to be able to trust one another, back each other up in the field. But at the same time, they need to be seen as powerful individuals. Each one unique and special. I'll deal with the training, cause they know and trust me. They'll respond without having to be broken down and rebuilt. I know you meant well, but this is how it has to be."

"But S.H.I.E.L.D. has some of the best..." Mal started.

"Do they?" The teacher asked. "How many super humans have they trained? Maybe four, if we count Captain America? How many with the kinds of powers we have here? How many who have the complications we have here? No, I'm getting my advice from the Inhumans, cause this is their kind of deal. And I'm handling the training myself."

"But the mistakes..." Mal tried.

"No one is blaming you." Sikowitz interrupted him again. "And again, we're putting children on the line, fighting unpredictable foes. And they've done extremely well, given how prepared we were. Also, let me ask you, could we really wait until they were fully trained to field them? Would those police officers from a couple of days ago have just ran around and not hurt anyone? How about the rat man, who we know nothing about? Do you think he'd have been willing to come back later? Or maybe, just maybe, we use the resources we have, and do what we can."

"I still don't like Griffin, even if he did kinda pass your background check." Jade said.

"He didn't exactly pass." Mal replied, echoing what Andre had told them a couple of days ago. "It's just, his crimes were all seen as youthful indiscretions. No real arrests. Never served in juvie. His record is mostly clean. We just don't see a guy who collects Pee Wee Babies as a security risk. But we wouldn't consider him a safe person to have working with the team, or in any sensitive area, either. He's just too raw to know which side he might wind up falling on. But he's clean enough, and we don't think we have the right to interfere in Trina's love life. As Mister Sikowitz pointed out, you're not S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. You're kids, and director Coulson wants you to have as normal a life as possible."

After they finished their meeting, Jade called her ex. "Beck, listen, I still don't trust Griffin. I think S.H.I.E.L.D. hid something."

"I know you have trouble trusting large organizations." Beck replied. "But S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the up and up. They help people. We help people."

"This isn't about you, or S.H.I.E.L.D." Jade said. "Just because someone doesn't have a criminal record doesn't mean their not capable of becoming criminals. Right circumstances, right temptation, and anyone could snap. The only reason I never tried any of the chiz my dad did, trying to take over or something like that, is because my mother worked hard to make sure I wouldn't let my power go to my head. My mother, my brother, and a whole squad of others, just to make sure the power didn't go to my head. You, the others, you got kinda lucky. We need to be sure that Griffin isn't playing everyone. Good looking boys who know how to charm people often get lighter sentences. That boy could be a budding menace."

"Finished?' Beck asked.

"Yea." Jade confirmed.

"Then lets talk about the budding menace." The Canadian said. "A school bully, had a difficult relationship with her father. Lots of chances to make the wrong choices, and as violent as they come. Yet we gave her a chance."

"I wasn't that violent." Jade pointed out. "I used intimidation so I wouldn't have to fight. Remember, I was trained, from an early age. It's fighting to not hurt the other person, thats what I'm working on now. That, and how not to fling rats in all directions."

"Your point?' Beck asked.

"I'm totally different then Griffin." The goth replied.

"But your not." Beck said. "Cause we don't know if he's bad or not, and it's not fair to assume he is just because of a few mistakes he made in the past.."

Jade growled, but accepted Beck's point.

Across town, Griffin was getting home, having just finished his latest date with Trina. "Nice to be home." He announced to no one.

He stopped at his display room, to admire his Pee Wee Baby collection. "Hi everyone, I have a new member for you guys." He said to the dolls. "This is the ultra rare pink billed Mr. Huggins. He gets a place of honor right here." Griffin placed the toy on a shelf, and smiled at the new purchase. It was a reward for his last report. "Now I gotta go call in. Talk to you all later."

Griffin pulled out his burner phone, and called the number he always called to report in. "Nothing new." He said.

"Trina seems smitten." Rex replied. "Thats good. Did you get our gift?"

"Yea, I did." The boy said.

"Good." Rex continued. "Getting her to bring you to a fight, that was epic. Remember, don't be afraid to back off. We're not after information, but influence. We need Trina willing to walk into our trap, if and when we decide to act. So you can try and learn new chiz, but don't worry if they cut you off. And your like a deep cover operative. You may, and will, be asked to do whatever to prove your on their side. It's all about getting the girl to trust you."

"Sex?" Griffin asked.

"Nothing against that." Rex replied. "As long as she trusts you until we need you to lead her into whatever."

"Cool." The boy said.

"Now, don't expect another bonus like that. Not unless circumstances allow you a chance to impress us. And don't take unnecessary risks. Soon, maybe not soon enough, you'll have everything you wanted." Rex said.

"Not to contradict," Griffin said, "But to be the bad boy with a heart of gold she'll be into, I'm gonna need to keep pushing the envelope. Let her know I'm dangerous. I'll probably not be at most of their fights, but I'm gonna do some risky things. Have too. And I'm gonna start testing her. Make her prove she's into me."

"And if she fails?" Rex asked, his voice suddenly dangerous.

"That what makes this hard." The handsome boy said. "I have to make the tests hard enough for her to think their real, but at the same time, make sure she passes. Then I can tell her how hard it is for me to trust, that what makes me bad makes it hard for me to get close to people. And that each time she passes, most girls wouldn't. Let her know how special I think she is."

"My god, you are the asshole for the job." Rex said, his voice tinged with admeration. "But Trina has…. Who am I kidding. For a good looking boy like you, she'll bend over backwards. Yea, do what you have to. Just make sure she stays with you until I need her. And remember, things are gonna get dangerous, soon. I can't lose my infiltrator to some dumb stunt."

"No problem." The boy said. "Trina won't let anything happen to me."

"And Jade?" Rex asked. "Trina's sister's girlfriend. How's she reacting to you?'

"I'm having a bit of trouble winning her to my side." Griffin said. "I think she's just a..."

"This has nothing to do with her sexuality." Rex cut him off. Even Rex was surprised by that reaction. He had no love for humans, and considered their foibles to be fodder for his amusement. But he'd just defended Jade's choice to date Tori.

"I wasn't gonna say anything about that." Griffin said, sounding hurt. "I'm not that insensitive. It's just, the girls a grunch. I'll win her, maybe even take her away from her girlfriend, since she's into guys too. But it won't be easy."

"Jade would burn your Pee Wee Baby collection if she thought you were thinking of hitting on her." Rex warned. "Think about that. But you've done well. I expect you to settle in until I need you."

"You're the boss." Griffin said.

Jade was at the Vega home, relaxing. "And Mal was so pissed. I mean, I didn't expect the rats to fly off that fast." Jade said, venting.

"My poor baby." Tori cooed.

Trina walked into the living room. "It's late. Don't you have a cemetery to haunt?" She asked Jade.

"I'm spending the night." Jade said. "Your dad approved and everything."

"Well….." Trina said, not sure if that was a good idea.

"I'm staying the night cause my family is going to Frisco for the week, and they agreed it would be better then leaving me here alone." Jade clarified.

"And why are they going there?" Trina asked.

"Really?" Tori asked her sister. "You really need to know that?"

"I'm protecting your virtue." Trina replied. "Jade, why are they going to San Francisco?"

"My step dad is considering taking a job up there, and their checking the place out." The goth replied.

"And your only telling me this now?" Tori asked, clearly miffed.

"If they move, because of my commitments to the team, I'd be staying with family." Jade told her girlfriend.

"Who?" Tori asked, her voice cold.

"No one, really." Jade said. "But we didn't think it proper to tell them I'd be living at a secret base located under a junk yard. So we decided that we'd make up some family for me to stay with, and I'd live wherever."

"Okay." Trina said, backing down. "As long as it's not one of your elaborate schemes, we're cool."

"What kind of scheme?" Tori asked.

"I don't know?" Trina said. "Ask Wednesday."

"Ignore her." Tori said. "You were telling me about the rats."

"Yea, I still don't get how they all flew off like that. I was spinning fast, but..." Jade stopped to think. "They should have flown off sooner, as soon as I started spinning. Waiting for the centrifugal forces to get that strong..."

"Except you accelerated fast." Trina cut in. "That why they had so much velocity. No, what you should be asking is how they held on before you spun. From how many rats were flung, most of them were hanging onto other rats. The weight should have pulled them off."

"The guy was creating the rats." Jade said. "Maybe he made them extra clingy?"

"Or maybe he had another ability we didn't realize, some kind of clinging, and included the rats." Trina speculated.

"Isn't that covered by extra clingy?" Tori asked.

"No." Trina said. "There's more to this guy then meets the eye. And Jade, I know Mal's wazzed that I brought Griffin. Won't happen again."

Jade just nodded. "Anyways, you'd think the damage was all my fault. I'll admit to a lot of it, but I was trying to save lives. Babies."

Trina just headed up to bed. "That rat guy was probably a coincidence, but I still need to look into it. Where did he come from, and what are his powers?"

:}

Okay, not my best. But I think the action does give us something to focus on. Also, will Trina be able to tear herself away from Griffin long enough to figure out where this new meta-human came from. Guessing we'll have to wait and see.

Reviews are welcome. Lets see what you thought of this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5 Tori in action

Disclaimer: I don't own, and probably won't. I mean, they priced it outta my reach. Still, neither marvel, nor Nickelodeon are hurting from my using the characters. So, no harm.

:}

Tori couldn't believe how quickly things could go south. She was on the phone with her dad, talking about what they were going to do for his anniversary, when he came under fire. It seemed, the investigation he was working had gotten too close. Not bothering to think, Tori had raced out of there. Only an emergency warning from Robbie reminded her to change into her combat suit.

"I'm in rout." Andre said over the radio. "ETA, um, soon."

"I'll be there sooner." Tori said, grateful the radio was designed for her to be able to use while in motion. "Someone contact Trina."

"She's on a date." Robbie said. "And apparently somewhere where our radios don't work. An Indian casino, maybe?"

"We need better chiz if we're gonna run into that kind of shit." Andre said.

"I'm almost there." Tori said. 'Fast as I am, it takes time.' She worried that she would be too late.

She soon found herself in the warehouse district, where the police were pined down by snipers. 'Please, daddy, be all right.' She thought as she approached. She found him behind a vehicle, trying to direct his men.

Not bothering to do anything beyond protecting him from possible whiplash, Tori yanked him out of the way of an incoming bullet. The bullet was moving over five times faster then she was, but still slow enough for her to see it, reacts, and cover the distance between her and her father. It had more distance to cover. The bullet struck the ground just to the side of them.

"Dad, you'll be safe here." Tori told her father once she stopped, a good four hundred yards away from the firefight. They now had a building between them and the snipers. "So, whats going on?"

"We were serving a warrant to search the warehouse, when the snipers opened fires." He informed her. "We think that a local crime boss names Guy Marlow is held up in there. You wouldn't believe all the different stuff he's got his dirty little hands in. In addition to the snipers, he has an unknown number of men with machine guns inside, and a RPG, took down the helicopter. We're requesting backup from the national Guard, but it's gonna take some time getting here."

"How many?" Tori asked.

"We don't know." Her father replied. "They're on the roof of the warehouse. Probably have spotters outside the building. We were caught off guard, got pinned down. Not much chance of making the arrest now. If they have a way out, he'll get away clean."

"I'm going in. Andre, er, Distortion will be here soon. He's better equipped to help take the front door. I'm gonna clear the roof." Tori said, already plotting her rout into the building.

"Tori, I see eight men on the roof, but there are probably twice that many. That means a large force inside." Robbie's voice chirped in. "Plus, expect an armored vehicle. They won't wait for enough reinforcements to get there before they run."

"Look up the plans." Andre chimed in. "They have another way out. I'm certain of it. I need to know."

"I'm going in before another innocent cop looses their life. If you get in contact with Trina, have her bring one of the heavy hitters here." Tori said, then darted out from her cover and zig zaged towards the warehouse. At her speed, they were having trouble seeing her, let alone drawing a bead. In seconds, she was at the wall of the warehouse, and she started running up the side of the building. Her momentum, added by her running, allowed her to power walk up the side. 'Don't run, since that includes a lot of short hops, and you never want to be hopping away from the wall.' She'd decided. Despite the slower method of travel, she cleared the three stories of the warehouse and hopped onto the roof, using the safety railing to rotate herself over the top.

For a second, she was visible, vulnerable, as the gunmen on the roof were able to see someone was up there with them. But Tori reacted first, racing to the closest of the men and ripping the gun from his hand. She tossed it to the next roof as she moved to the next man. Four snipers were relieved of their guns in seconds, with Tori covering the roof in a zig zag pattern.

The other four men braced themselves to resist her attempt to take their guns. Tori was ready for that, having prepared an alternative strategy. Four firing pins soon flew off the roof. 'Now it's time to engage.' The Latina decided.

The fight was one sided. The thugs had drawn pistols, desperately trying to shoot her, but Tori didn't stay in one place any longer then she had too. Instead, she would run up to one person, land a dozen or so blows, then move to the next. Despite being fairly big guys, they couldn't take the kind of force Tori was generating off her speed alone. They started to waver, then fall, under the lightning fast onslaught of her blows. As the last man fell, she turned to rush down the stairs and engage the others in the building.

The door was locked. "Control, how do I get in? Skylight?"

"Try just kicking the door down." Robbie said. "Strike just under the knob, with as much force as you can, as quickly as you can. Don't hurt yourself, just hammer it."

Cursing the delay, Tori, as Blitz, landed dozens of kicks right under the door knob. The repeated blows weakened the fire door, cracking the frame and slowly hammering it out until something gave. But the process had taken over a minute, and the men on the other side knew she was coming.

But knowing doesn't mean hitting. Their guns were smaller, with slower rounds. Tori was able to react as fast as they shot, and had a chance to see where the rounds were going, easily dodging out of the way of the first volley. Then she raced down the stairs, striking each thug she came across as she went. She heard Robbie telling the police to go in, but in the time it took for him to inform them, she'd already made it through the upper story office area and down to the warehouse floor.

The warehouse was empty save for the cars. There was more then one limo, and a couple of Hummers. There was also a military surplus armored Humvee complete with a heavy machine gun in a hard point in the roof. It screamed getaway vehicle. 'Guess the police weren't the only ones to get military hardware.' She thought, but turned her mind back to the task.

Searching the warehouse was easy at the speeds she moved. The men who were guarding the doors were also distracted by her movements, allowing the police to advance closer to the building. Tori, meanwhile, found the tunnel hidden under the ground lever receiving office. Checking it out, she saw that the tunnel was like one of those passageways under a road, broad enough for two people to pass abreast. It was also filled with the sounds of conflict.

Marlow and his men had run into Andre. Distortion was avoiding the guns, disarming the elite bodyguards the gang boss had assembled, all while using sound pulses to disorient the whole group of men. With that small advantage, Andre was disabling the guards one by one. Marlow was trying to make his way back to the warehouse to try ramming through with the armored Humvees they had, when he ran into Blitz.

"Looks like you chose a bad day to be a bad guy." Tori said.

"Look, if your gonna arrest me, can we please have it without the cliche lines?" The crime lord asked. "My lawyer is gonna get me out anyways. The search wasn't legal."

"Keep believing that." Tori said, as she pulled him up and slammed him against the wall. "Now, I'm gonna hand you over to the nice police man, and he's gonna read you some rights. I'd recommend listening, cause it's kinda important. But feel free not to follow them."

"Yo, Blitz, how ya doin'" Distortion called out.

"Good." Tori called back. "Look, can we talk. Like as soon as we get back to base?" She sounded just a bit freaked out.

"Sure thing." The hero replied. "But the whole rights bit, I'd do it, but hold off on expecting too much. Guy used an explosives to kill the cops in the helicopter. That could mean a terrorism charge. Man may not have the rights he thought he had."

"Oh." Tori said.

The Humvee started to move, driving straight through the police line and smashing it's way out of the warehouse. Tori started moving after it, but only made it outside when the vehicle was stopped by a pulse of golden energy ripping through it's front. Golden Girl was hovering over the battlefield now, and had used her force pulse to reduce the engine of the Humvee to scrap. Seconds later, a small army of police converged on the vehicle, while Cat drifted down to disable the gun.

"Come out, cause we have..." One of the officers started. "Okay, we have her, and I doubt you have one, so give it up or we use her. You've already seen what she can do."

"Oh, I loved that song." Cat squealed. Then she started singing. "Give it up, You can't win, Cuz I know where you've been, Such a shame, You don't put up a fight. That's a game that we play, At the end of the night. It's the same old story, But you never get it right. Give it up"

"CAT!" Robbie yelled over the radio link.

"What?' She asked.

"Please, no singing." He said. "Your voice, it's very distinctive. Makes it easier for people to know who you are, out of costume."

"Oh, right." Cat giggled. "Okay, bad guys, surrender or I'll, um, whatever they say I'll do."

The thugs in the car were already on their way out by then, so the three hero's milled for just a bit, then Tori and Cat took off as soon as Andre told them it was okay.

"Lieutenant Vega, and I guess I'm in charge." David said, walking up to where the officers were gathering. "Our captain was hit, may be dead." He saw Andre, in costume, and hesitated. "Um, thanks for the assist."

"We were glad to help." Andre said. "I'm distortion. We got them, and stopped what could well have been a terrorist act."

"How many?" The officer asked.

"I got about a dozen, but Blitz, I think she got twice as many as I did." Andre said. "Guess there are advantages to being that fast."

Back at the headquarters, Rex was glaring at Robbie. "And why did we send them in if no one was gonna get killed?" The puppet asked. The monitoring room was secured. No one could hear them talking. Or so they thought.

"Marlow was a threat." Rob explained. "We leave him alone, he makes life more difficult for us and our new friends. Remember, Hydra doesn't think of itself as a criminal organization. They're fascists. Total law enforcement, at the price of all freedom. Sides, by doing my job, they start to get used to me doing it, and I cam lead them into a trap later."

"Wonder what Grant's gonna think?" The annoyed puppet asked.

"He requested we take this dick out." Rob said. "Opens the way for them to move in. Criminal, but they, and we, need to be able to make money if we're gonna make things better. Trust me, this was a good thing."

"I still don't like it." Rex said. "But I do kinda wanna have Tori to play with, so I'm okay that she lived. And did Cat cut that Humvee in half?"

"Just about." Robbie almost gushed. 'Girls got some heavy firepower.'

"Word." Rex replied. "So, whats on TV?"

Tori arrived at the base long before Andre could. "Tori, Cat just told me what happened." Jade said over the communications link. "I'm on my way in."

"N-no." Tori forced herself to say. "I don't wanna burden you with what I'm feeling."

"Burden?' Jade asked. "Exactly how bad is this?"

"I'm not saying over an open com link." Tori said, turning her com unit off.

Jade was faster then Andre, despite being further away, and arrived at the base first. She found Tori sitting in the lounge, arms wrapped around her legs, crying.

Jade slowly leaned down and took Tori in her arms. "It's okay." She whispered into the Latina's ear, even as she gently lifted the girl up and placed her on the couch. "It's all right now. Just let it out, and you can tell me when you're ready. I'm here. Just let it out." The goth princess said, trying to sooth her.

Andre showed up over a half hour later to find Tori napping in Jade's arms. "Well?" He asked.

"She was crying." Jade said, not taking her eyes off Tori. "Like really broken. I tried to just be here for her. Figured she'd tell me when she's ready." Then the goth lifted her eyes to meet the boys. "How bad is it?"

"A lot better then it could be." he said. "They had snipers, in good position, and a rocket propelled grenade launcher. Already shot down the police helicopter by the time Tori arrived on the scene. And I think she might have saved her father from getting shot."

"Blood and gore all over the place?" Jade asked. "No wonder she didn't want to talk to me about it. Poor thing. She should know I wouldn't ask for details. Not from her. I wonder, they took pictures, right?'

"Jade!" The musician snapped. "People died today. Good people who didn't deserve what happened to them."

"And nothing we do can change that." Jade replied. "But I was raised not to freak out at these things. Plus, I'm kinda morbid anyways. But I'll let you talk to Vega, since she doesn't wanna talk to me."

"It's not that." Andre started. Then he stopped himself. "Just don't go too far. She's gonna need you soon, regardless."

Tori woke up a little while later, and as soon as she saw her best friend, she hugged him hard. "It was so horrible." She cried, fresh tears flowing. "I saw so many people dead, or dying, and I couldn't help them. The best I could do was run into danger and hurt the guys hurting the police. I was scared I'd kill someone... Or that my inaction would cost someone their lives. I took some time to check on my dad. How many people died while I checked on my dad."

"How many people did you save today?" Andre asked. "And saving your dad, thats natural. You did what you had too. If you didn't, you'd have been in the wrong mind to have fought. No, you did what you had too."

"I saw the round, figured it was going to be close to him." Tori explained. "I was really close, so I pulled him out of the way. Bullet only missed by a few inches, and only cause I moved him. It would have hit him in the head, maybe killed him."

"And because of you, one fewer family is gonna go to bed tonight without a father." Andre assured her. "Tori, it's okay. No guilt. You did good today. You didn't even do permanent damage to the men on the roof. Like what you did to the door, by the way."

"It was Robbie's idea." She said.

"I know, if Jade were the first to arrive, she could have ripped the roof off of that place." He continued. "But we'd have had an even bigger body count. Not to mention, your dad might not have made it. No, the right person responded to the call for help. Now, we just need to find out where Trina was."

"How much does Jade know?" Tori asked. "Does she hate me now. I know she probably hates me. Can you see if she hates me?"

"Why would she hate you?' Andre asked.

"Cause I was able to save my dad." Tori replied. "And I couldn't face her, knowing how her dad died. And I pushed her away. I know I hurt her, but I was protecting her. I didn't want today to be a reminder that her dad is dead."

"I don't think she hates you?" Andre said. "Lets find out together."

They walked, looking for Jade. The tracking beacon on her ID card said she was in her room, but Tori doubted that. Jade was the only member of the team who could go wherever in the base without the Id card. Trina's card said she was at the meeting room. "Bet Jade had a few choice things to say to Trina." Andre said, smirking.

They approached the main office, just off the meeting room, where they heard Trina screaming. "I could have been there in a heartbeat." The girl was saying. "Brought half the team. Why wasn't I called in?"

"We tried." Mal's voice was calm, but resonated. Apparently he'd learned something from Sikowitz too. "Your unit was off. Not our fault."

"My unit was on." She said. "I keep it on, as long as the batteries are charged, so I can use it to do a direct pop to whomever calls for help. Of course it was on."

"It's on now." Jade commented. "But it was off. Just, not turned off by her."

"And how do you know this?" Mal asked, suddenly worried.

"Had Sinjin tell me how to run a diagnostic on it." Jade said. "Turns out, it was remotely turned off. Then remotely turned back on. Not sure how that works." looking at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "What? Tori's wazzed enough at me. I didn't want to accuse her sister of anything if I didn't have proof."

"So someone knows who Trina is?" Mal asked.

"Not that hard." Trina said. "I doubt S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files are as secure as you'd like to think they are. I'm betting there are lots of people who could find out about anyone on the registry."

"The point is, her dad could have been killed, and she wasn't contacted because someone turned her radio off remotely." Jade emphasized. "Robbie said he didn't notice when it happened, so I'm thinking it was someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. who knows the frequencies we're using."

"Or," Robbie said over the link, "It's someone with similar powers to Trina. Maybe not the teleportation, but the ability to interact with radio's. I'm thinking that maybe, they didn't even know they'd done it."

"Is that possible?" Mal asked.

"Yes." Rob assured both him and Rex. "I can assure you, thats the most likely situation. I'd guess that even our enemies wanted Guy Marlow in jail. He was a manipulative jerk who bought the loyalties of as many of the ex Hydra people as he could, and happily sold those who wouldn't work for him to the feds."

"He's in jail now." Mal said. "But how would he have known Trina was one of us?"

"Thats what I'm saying." Rob continued. "Whomever did this didn't have a clue what they'd done."

"Jade, I'm not mad at you." Tori told the goth. "I'm just concerned. I-I almost lost my father today."

"Okay." Mal announced. "We'll try to isolate where Trina was when her radio went down. Then figure out how many people were around her."

"Why couldn't you confide in me?" Jade asked, keeping her voice soft and even.

"I was worried, cause of your dad…." Tori said. In the background the others were starting to work out where Trina was, and how many people were around her at that time. "I didn't want to bring up your past issues."

"Tori, babe, I appreciate you thinking of me, but this was hurting you." Jade replied. "The things that must have been going through your mind, with the death, and your father coming so close to dying. He called, told Trina he was all right, and she got the whole story out of him. I think a bullet came close. How close?"

"If I hadn't moved him, Trina and I would be burying him." Tori said. "God, I was so scared. I was dealing with killers. They weren't afraid of killing cops. What kind of men were they?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. trained snipers." Jade replied. "You did well, taking them out without being hurt. Next time, I hope Trina can get me. I'll deal with them."

"Like I want to see you all shot up." Tori said, looking sad. "Jade, maybe you'll heal, but seeing anyone that hurt, dead or dying. It wasn't what I signed up for."

"No, you signed up to save lives." Mal cut in. "I know, private conversation. But Tori, you did good toady. And given what you went through, I can honestly say I'm proud of you. But we can't rest on our laurels. Not now. Accident or otherwise, we were without a resource we're used to having. We need to learn not to count on her all the time."

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M FLAKEY?" Trina roared.

"No, I'm saying you could get hurt, or be on another mission." Mal tried to stay calm. "We need other ways to deploy the team for when you're otherwise engaged."

"Also," Jade started, "Most of us weren't even trying to get there. Rob didn't alert me. He told Cat almost as an after thought. Beck, me, Cat. We're the ones you want spearheading this kind of operation. We have the most raw firepower. Tori, you did great. I'm beyond glad you saved your dad. But I think I would have been useful in subduing the thugs." She paused for just a second. "Then again, with your speed, you stopped the snipers faster then I could have. I'd have just been useful breaking in and overpowering the men on the first floor."

"Jade, I'm still majorly freaked." Tori assured her girlfriend. "I wish you were there, so I could have had you watching my back."

"Next time, Vega." Jade said with a loving voice. "Next time."

Robbie was watching the whole thing over the bases security camera's. Rex moved beside him to get a better view. "So, you didn't turn off Trina's radio?" Rex asked.

"Nope." Robbie said. "Not now. Was planning on saving that for when we took her. That is, once I figured out how to take her. The other option was to turn the radio off when we assaulted the others, stranding them without their transport. If we were lucky, we'd strand both Vega sisters, and not have to worry about them until after the whole thing was over."

"And Jade?" Rex asked.

"Look at her." Rob said, feeling jealous. "Look at the way she talks to Tori. She's holding it together for her girl. Who else have you ever seen her do that for?"

Rex smiled his evil smile. 'Boys mine now. Soon, he's gonna be with me on ending that Asgardian freak. Just need to make sure we can, cause one mistake, and the whole thing blows up in our face.'

Far away, Goonter was sitting in his hiding place near Robbie's room. Rather then marshal his own power to control the rocks, the little guy had contacted a Sunshine Girl with enough mystic abilities to help him make his own amulet. It wasn't much, just enough to extend the link between him and Robbie. He could also feel the corrupting effects Rex was having on the boy. "Soon, Rob, we'll do what we have too to save you. I even want you on that team, doing the job your doing. But when we're done, you'll be a valuable member of the team, respected for your intelligence and abilities." The puppet said in a sad voice.

"Mr. Goonter, do you need anything else?" Emily, the Sunshine girl, asked.

"You've already done so much." The good spirit said. "I don't want to put you in any more danger."

"But if you fail, and this spirit gets loose, gains full strength, then you said it could cause a lot of suffering, right?" The young, blond girl asked. "I want to help."

"I want you to be able to sell your fudge balls." Goonter replied. "Have a happy, safe life. Helping me doesn't make that any more likely to happen. Besides, we don't have more then a fraction of the power Robbie does."

She just smiled, and his wooden heart was warmed by the thought of her as an ally. 'People like you, thats what we're fighting for now.' He thought.

:}

Okay, what'd you think of Tori in combat? Or her reaction to the fight. Also, this situation was inspired by a scene from Metatron85's story EDGE. Worth reading if you haven't. Only, this time, I had a speedster racing to make changes. Changed the whole dynamic. So, I hope that was fun for you all.

Thoughts, comments, or just wanted to tell me how awesome I am, thats what the review button is for.


	6. Chapter 6 A night visit to the beach

Disclaimer I don't own Victorious, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any Marvel products. I just like to write.

:}

The ship landed silently, under the cover of both nighttime, and a fairly advanced cloaking system. Of course, if they'd tried to slip past one of the advanced races, like the Kree, they'd have been seen, tracked, and probably shot down. Lucky for them they'd chosen this backwards rock ball.

The ship was an older but still very reliable design, similar to the ones used by the Ravagers, which was one of the reasons they'd chosen to use it. It was always convenient when they could let another group of pirates take the blame for their actions. But the ship did give them enough room for a dozen people to live, if they didn't mind the crowded quarters. And compared to Earth, their tech was almost magic.

The ship landed in an out of the way location within the city, a reprocessing plant that was usually full of junk. The perfect place to hide while they completed their task. A report had filtered up form one of the Exiles, aliens sent to live the rest of their lives on this primitive world, that one of the new so called "Heroes" was calling herself Power Princess, a title usually reserved for war leaders among a certain amazon species. A species that was willing to put a high price on the head of this girl, assuming she was an imposter. There were conditions, species that race would rather swallow their pride then risk annoying. But this was Earth, a backwards world that was quarantined, declared unstable and dangerous, after no less then Thanos sent an army to conquer them and was rebuked. No one cared if they killed a few hundred humans in their quest to find a rich bounty.

"Besides, only criminals and exiles would be caught dead here anyways." Rathrin said to his crew. "Now, we've found a faint trace of some kind of high energy cybersystem, and thats probably who we're after. This thing is advanced, possibly worth more then the bounty. So stay alert. One wrong move, and who knows, maybe we'll find ourselves facing the same kind of threat that drove Thanos off the other coast of this continent."

His man laughed. They knew why the mad Titan was rebuked. Thanos hadn't bothered to lead the assault himself, instead trusting a rogue Asgardian to lead the Chitariu. They'd faced no less then Thor, prince of the Asgardians, armed with their mightiest weapon, as well as a host of the mightiest heroes this world could bring together. But Thor was off world, and those heroes thousands of miles away. If they kept it to a dull roar, the bounty hunters wouldn't face any real threats. "I mean, it's such a primitive world." The new guy said.

Using personal cloaking fields and anti-gravity impellers, the small group stalked the streets towards a section near the beach. The building they were looking at seemed to be a multi-family residence. "This is too easy." The scout leader said. He took a moment to call in his force, a good half dozen of them, and prepared for the assault.

Jade couldn't believe her mother. "Sleepovers are normal." She said, quoting her mother in a highly unfaltering voice. "We want to be normal, right?"

"Um, Jade…?" Cat said, sounding nervous.

"What?" The goth snapped.

"I'm detecting something." The redhead informed her. "Do you feel anything, um, unnormal?"

"No, of course I don't… Wait, what is that… color?" The goth spent a scant second focusing, trying to figure out what she was sensing. "Not sure, the feel is just wrong. Like there's a patters to the background energies." She said, now on alert.

Cat had pulled out her phone, and was scanning. "It says here that a codded transmission, on high Thelma waves, is being broadcast and received from real near by."

"Alien tech?" Jade asked.

"I'm decoding now." Cat said.

"Don't hold your breath." Jade sneered. "Adam's great at tech, and I love him, but lets be honest, he sucks at decoding chiz. Uses a nanite system to hack into the hardware of computers, just to hack the software. I mean, who does that?"

"Shh!" Cat shushed her. "The message is coming through. It says," she stopped to read, giving the appearance of getting a text message, "Oh. 'Target location confirmed. Preparing assault.' Do you thing they mean us?"

"Lets get out of here." Jade replied. "If they follow, then we know they meant us. And if not, we'll track them until we get some answers. "

Cat pushed the button on her phone, the one she was only supposed to use when time was of the essence, like needing to change into their mission suits, or if she was really in need of knowing which of the ten possible outfits made her look the cutest that day. The unit activated a micro-scramber wave, deconstructing her and Jade's outfits, replacing them with their mission suits. Their cloths occupied the space where their mission suits had been.

"Lets go." Cat said, smiling.

The two first headed about a block away, with Cat watching her phone. Sure enough, they were rewarded with a message saying that the target was on the move. Since it was night, they figured the safest place to have this confrontation was at the beach. "We should call it in." Cat said, activating her internal radio.

"No, they're probably monitoring our radio frequencies too." Jade cut her friend short. "Sides, we're probably among the strongest of our little group. We can handle this."

"I don't know." Cat said. "We're not sure what they can do."

"Trust me." The smile on Jade's face was absolutely predatory.

Cat took advantage of her phone, and sent a text to the rest of her friends, plus Mal. 'Please, come quick.' She silently begged. The two flew towards the beach, not caring about Cat's golden trail. They were being followed anyways.

Once at the beach, the two girls found themselves a good place to make their stand, and waited. Both were aware of the half dozen figures that approached the beach under what they thought was a cloak of invisibility. Both girls "Watched" as the aliens circled around them, cutting off any possible escape. Then, once the trap was set, crossfire ready, the leader stepped out of what would have appeared to be no where to confront the girls.

"So called 'Power Princess', we are here to collect a bounty on your head. Surrender quietly, and maybe we'll let your friend live." He announced confidently, counting on the translator effect to make his voice sound extra creepy. He liked to intimidate.

"My god, Jade, you managed to alienate aliens?" Cat huffed. "Alienate aliens. Thats funny. But how, I mean they haven't exactly met you yet."

"Caaat?" Jade replied, barely keeping her voice under control. "I mean, Golden Girl. Goldie? Whatever. We don't just go telling the bad guys our real names."

"But you just..." Cat said, looking at Jade.

"Girls, if you don't mind, intimidating alien with cybernetics and a big gun here, threatening you." Rathrin said. "You know what? Go ahead, talk." Then to his men, with the translator off, "Take them. We give the tall one to the clients, and sell the small one for parts."

"Thats rude." Cat said, glaring at the man. "He wants to sell me for…."

They both dodged as the aliens opened fires. High intensity energy flared across the beach, scarring the land. Jade rushed the leader while Cat took to the air. The man took advantage and opened fire on Cat, since she was such an open target.

Jade reached the leader, who smugly chose to stand his ground. He was an experienced, trained fighter, a mercenary the likes of whom had served the Kree for generations. He was a trained fighter, with cyberneticly enhanced abilities. She was no match.

Except she was. He quickly found himself out matched. "Someone open fire on this girl." He called out as she slammed him one more time. His body ached beyond anything he could remember. 'How did someone that strong learn to fight that well?' He wondered.

Cat wasn't doing too well. Her fields were holding, with the body's armor stopping most of what got through. But to survive, she had to shunt most of her operating energy into the defensive fields. She's already fallen to the ground, and was being punished by the ongoing fire from their alien guns.

"Looks like she's down." The newcomer said. "I'm gonna go help the captain. You guys mop up."

A second later, two of the men were swept off their feet by the flying body of Rathrin. "I'm not sure what your saying, but I'm assuming it's something like "whoops, wrong girl. And it will be, if you hurt my friend." Jade was moving now, dodging around so they'd have a hard time drawing a bead.

The mercenaries checked on their leader, finding him in bad shape. Jade broke things, both organic and mechanical, reducing his ability to fight. His gun was now in peaces, having found a one time use as a club. It was sturdy enough, except Jade wasn't holding back. She's used her energy powers to enhance her strength for that blow, leaving Rathrin too hurt to continue, and the gun in shards. Meanwhile, Jade was striking the others, moving from foe to foe, and not bothering to worry about how long her own energies would be depleted from this exercise. Cat's life was in danger.

Rathrin may have been hurt, but he could still think. "Okay, those not directly involved in hand to hand, step back and prepare to fire. Set weapons to overload. I know we won't get many shots, but if we don't stop her quickly, she could end us."

Three men stepped into position as Jade use the remaining two to batter each other into submission. Both men dropped to the ground, unconscious, systems failing. Before Jade could act, the three men would spray the area down with high energy, rapid fire pulses that could well injure, or even kill, the young princess. By ignoring the two who were still at her feet, they'd catch Jade off guard, and tear her apart. But they only got off a single burst before two of them went down hard.

Cat was back in the fight. "NOOO!" She screamed. Her golden energy beams were at full power, and the two she'd targeted found themselves hurled backwards, systems shutting down due to the massive trauma punching through their armor. They'd normally survive the attack, except Cat wasn't playing. She'd marshaled all the power she could and put it into that shot. Both men went down.

The last man had to stop firing at Jade to dodge the energy flying towards him. His gun was already starting to melt from the high energy output he'd been using. Now he had to find a way to cool it down, or he'd be reduced to his backup weapon against two girls who'd survived direct hits from their main guns.

Jade got to him first. Blood flowed from multiple wounds across her torso, to the point where he wondered how she could still be standing. They'd hit her with what equated to anti-ship weapons. Yet there she was, on her feet, and ready to keep fighting. A second later, his gun fried, and he was stuck activating his emergency defense beacon.

Jade hit him, hard. He went sailing across the beach, bouncing multiple times until he rolled to a stop a good hundred yards down the shore. The fight was over. "I should have used my powers to enhance my defenses." Jade said, then fainted.

Cat could hear Mal trying to get through to her on the radio. 'Must be jamming it, so he won't mind if I don't reply. Apparently they were told that the emergency beacon would teleport them, but even the Kree don't have that technology yet. But I know someone who does..' She hit a button on her phone.

"Adam, we were attacked. Don't know anything about them, except that they will die soon if they stay here. I'm giving you our coordinates. Can you send someone to pick them up?" Cat was hoping to avoid too many problems with S.H.I.E.L.D., or the other government organizations interested in alien technology.

A second later, the air seemed to rip open and a man she didn't recognize stepped out. "Figures." The man said. "Okay, we'll take them. Tell your friends that someone swept down and carried them off. It's believable enough. These guys are gonna wish you'd have just let them die. The prison we're sending them too isn't friendly to their types."

"Just as long as they live." Cat said. She glanced down at her own body, the ripped combat suit and multiple bruises she was developing. "They didn't break skin on me, but look at what they did to Jade." Her voice was now laced with worry.

"Their rifles can carry as much punch as an anti-ship weapon, if their willing to melt the gun down in the process." The stranger explained. "She needs to start wearing a bit more armor. That she's alive is amazing."

Jade's body was already healing. Cat suspected they'd have maybe ten minutes before the princess was able to move. By then, someone would have found their battlefield. "It's okay, we're with S.H.I.E.L.D." Cat stated. The stranger just shrugged.

"Tell her how impressed I was." The he said.

"Who are you?" Cat asked.

"Ulik. I used to work for her father." The man said. "If I let the disguise field master Nari built for me laps, I doubt you'd be so accepting of me."

"Okay." Cat agreed, just to be rid of him. She then watched him pull the surviving mercenaries through the portal, which then seemed to heal, sealing this world from whatever world he'd come from.

Ten minutes later, the beach was swarming with police, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and others. The Quinjet that landed down the shore was the first to pour agents onto the beach. The police followed once they knew it was safe. Now, teams were recovering parts. The remains of the guns, as well as bits of cyberwares knocked off the mercenaries, were being retrieved. Almost everything was beyond repair.

"How's Power Princess?" Mal asked. He was ranking agent on the scene, but that wasn't likely to last. Headquarters was sending an expert to oversee the study of the alien parts they'd recovered, since this still fell under their authority. "Any chance we can get statements from you two? And what exactly happened to the bodies? I'm assuming that you won, given that your still here and alive. But we will need answers."

"Power Princess fell unconscious as soon as they left." Cat said. "I'm guessing there was a reason. Probably due to all the pain she was in. But she's already healed, so I'm thinking she'll be feeling better now. Their guns hurt. High yield energy pulses wrapped around a solid projectile, giving he whole thing more punch. Definitely not cool."

"Princess, and believe me I people are gonna love calling you that, you up to giving a statement?" The agent asked.

"Cat could understand them." Jade replied. "But from what I gathered, there's a price on my head. From space. I haven't even had the chance to make enemies in space. How could I have made an enemy in space?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with your brother." Mal replied. "Okay, give your statements, and go home. We'll get as much as we can from the scene. I just wonder, if they were picked up, does that mean their coming back?"

"No." Cat said. "Cause their about to face space justice. They were picked up by space cops, and are gonna be sent to a space prison where they will have to do a lot of space crafts to pass the space time."

"And how do you know that?" Mal asked. He didn't want to comment on her choice of words.

"The nice space man said so. Said his name was Ulik, or something. Said he knew Jade's dad from way back." Cat said, trying to use as much truth as she could to hide the lies.

"Fare enough." Mal said. "I'll have someone get your statements, and you can go home."

After another half hour, the two were allowed to go. They'd given their statements to S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as been there for a quick sound bite for the press. Now they were able to get home, take a shower, and relax.

"Cat, why was Ulik here?" Jade asked, trying not to sound too upset.

"I may have, accidentally, um, called for help." The petite girl said. "What? They were dying. No way their systems would have been able to be repaired here. Their best hope was space. I called your brother, cause I didn't wanna bother Hemmie."

"Jade, lay off her." Sam added. "We both knew she was likely to try and save them. Even her worst enemy, she'd try to save."

"And why hasn't Adam found the time to get her something, at least for home defense?" Jade complained. "I mean, you tell her everything as is. The least she can do is pitch in."

"I'm a good fighter." Sam said. "But I think I'll let you handle those guys."

Cat was about to add something, but there was a call on Jade's phone. "Great, another blocked number."

"Let it go to voice mail." Sam suggested.

"No, the area code is another Galaxy. I think it's important." Jade huffed. There wasn't an area code so much as a symbol that popped up to let her know the call wasn't coming from earth. "Okay, who is this and why is your number blocked."

"Greetings my princess." Ulik said. "I was just calling to see how you were doing. I've handed the prisoners over to the Nova police. They'll keep them out of your hair. And I found out that, when they attacked, they didn't realize who you were. The bounty's being called off even as we speak. The species that set it wishes no trouble with Asgard. Pity, I'd have enjoyed fighting on the same side as the golden realm, just once."

"Thanks for the heads up." Jade said. "I don't suppose you could let me in on what my brother and uncle are doing, could you?"

"I am but a small part in a much larger plot." He replied. "Your brother has equipped me to blend in amongst certain societies. I'm just an observer and bodyguard for whomever he wishes me to protect."

"I figured as much." Jade sighed. 'He was never the type to worry too much about the deeper meanings of dad's plans. Guessing he's doing much the same for Nari.'

"There is one other thing." Ulik added. "Your brother wishes for you to know, he's found their ship. He's modifying it for his needs, and staring it in the same place as your base. He wasn't too forthcoming with details. He never is."

Jade thanked Ulik, hoping that whatever plots her brother was knee deep in wouldn't be as bad as she feared it would. 'Sometimes, it's better not knowing. This way, I can pretend he's able to handle it.' She reminded herself.

Grant Ward read the report his scouts were able to acquire. "Alien technology, and they won't be able to recover that much. Gotta love whomever designed those cyborgs. Not giving the enemy anything when a soldier falls in combat."

"Whatever you say, sir." The large, bearded, tattooed man next to him said. This was the dark underbelly of Hydra, the more obviously criminal element they'd made contact with years ago. Grant hated using these men. They lacked the high quality S.H.I.E.L.D. training that he was used to his agents having. But they were still men, thus still useful.

"Tell our people in LA to keep watching these Champions." The man took notes, writing down the orders Grant was giving. "Pity we don't have the political pull we used to have. I'd have loved to push these kids into a press conference. Still, how long until the new cyborgs are on line?"

"They're almost done modifying the armor systems." The waiting man said. "I've been told we'll have the volunteers ready for field testing withing the next few days. They'll be operational ready by this time next month."

"So what do you think of them?" The former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent asked.

"The cyborgs?" The assistant asked. "Their powerful. Could be what we need to protect us from this infestation of enhanced individuals that seem to be popping up out of nowhere."

"There a sacrifice." Grant said, smiling to himself. "Injured soldiers being deployed to gain a valuable target. Nothing more. Don't get attached, or feel any envy. If they succeed in taking out these kids, they'll likely draw the attention of the likes of Captain America, or the Hulk. No, we stick with the highly trained agents, and a lot of preparation, and we move forward. We use the new toys for what their worth. Maybe they'll help us conquer the world. I suspect, it's far more likely, they'll just keep the authorities off our tails a little longer. With luck, long enough for us to resume our proper roles as the authorities."

"I was never one of those law and order types." The large man said. "I got into Hydra to stay safe from S.H.I.E.L.D. Was always funny to me, how deeply Hydra infiltrated into S.H.I.E.L.D. But now, the good days are gone."

"First, they were never separate organizations." Grans corrected the man. "Hydra was always a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Even in the beginning, when they recruited officers to help build the organization, they used scientists from Hydra. We grew inside, mostly because we had the same goals. We wanted a better world. We, Hydra, just understood that the better world required some of us to have privileges. And in return, we'd do the hard job of keeping everyone in line. People who disrupt the status qua had to go. It's how we bring peace."

"Yes sir." The assistant replied. He knew better then to correct his boss. Grant could be violent, when necessary. And this man, this Eddie Thatcher, also known as E-dog in the motorcycle club he still belonged too, respected the new commander of Hydra.

"And Make sure you pass the next physical test." Grant added. "You've adapted into a wonderful assistant, and I don't want to have to kill you."

"Y-yes sir." Eddie said. He also knew, in Hydra, there wasn't likely to be a second chance. Mister Wards decision to have him train like an agent was because no one that close to the likely head of Hydra should be unable to help fight off an attack by their growing number of enemies. Also, their belief was you earn your spot in the organization. Didn't make it any easier to accept the new "Pass By The Third Try, or Die" program they were using, even if it was very motivational.

Another place, somewhere in the Hollywood Hills, someone surveyed their new lair. The room looked perfect, at least as far as it's sole occupant could tell. It was everything she would need, all in one place. The board, like the one's she saw on the crime drama's, had been acquired from a school in Alabama that had been closed due to finding shortages. Power was drawn from the roof, which now sported a solar panel borrowed from the military. One that was supposed to be locked away in a warehouse in New Mexico. By the dust on the fairly new equipment, they'd forgotten they had it. The computers were hooked up to the grid near by, borrowing the wifi from the Jetbrew just a short distance away. In short, everything was in place.

The young woman standing in the room of the mostly abandoned building looked over her handiwork. But she didn't allow herself too much time to celebrate. The next phase was beginning. Photos were taken out of a box, and magnetically stuck to the white board. Then a dry erase marker started drawing connection. Rat men and aliens, Terrorist gangsters and hydra. It was time someone figured things out.

:}

Review, I need the love.


	7. Chapter 7 Building teamwork

Disclaimer: Odds are I don't own it, just using it to make a fun story. That being said, count how many things I don't own in this chapter.

:}

The explosion sent everyone scattering across the war torn landscape. Tori and Trina could easily avoid the blasts, while Cat, Jade and Beck were able to take it. But Andre neither was fast or tough enough to just ignore the warnings until the world exploded around him. He needed to rely on skill and a good guess at where the next blast was going to hit to keep going. "Remember, our goal is to take the flag." The young agent called out.

"Not gonna be easy." Sikowit's voice cut in. "They have a lot of firepower on this battlefield. And while you have speed, they've managed to block Trina's ability to teleport." The view of the torn up land, mostly open with old battle damage, reminiscent of some alien world, had not initially given the teens much concern as to how hard this would be.

"Radio frequency blockers." Robbie clarified. He was hidden in the rear of the fighting, in a make shift bunker. "I'm having trouble cutting through the static, and we have no real eyes above. All that has reduced Trina to short hops. But she's still the most mobile person we have."

"Ground troops, coming in fast." Tori warned. "I'll try to cut them off."

"Careful." Andre called out. "Thy adapt fast. Jade, you and Beck, cut us a path through them. Cat, stay in reserve. I may need you to take out a fast mover if they try that, again. Tori, stay alert. They can move as fast as you can."

"Only if they don't try to do anything else." Tori replied. "I can take a couple out. Let me."

"Don't get cocky." Jade warned as she found a couple of the enemy. Large metal men with some kind of energy weapon built into one arm. These guys didn't walk, they stomped. And the metal soldiers had rockets built in for when they needed to fly. They were both intimidating and oddly familiar. Plus they could adapt.

Jade ripped the first of them apart, only to see the metal man start to pull himself back together. "It's rebuilding itself." Jade warned. Even as she spoke, three others opened fire on her, knocking her backwards and off her feet.

"JADE!" Cat and Tori echoed.

"Code names." Andre tried to scold his people. But both girls were already on their way to see if the goth was hurt. Tori raced towards her, and was cut off by two metal men who somehow could match her speed.

She slid under the first, and regained her footing in time to see the second stop itself for the second it took to reorientates. A series of thrown pebbles managed to place dozens of dents in the metal head of the robotic man. "Their not as maneuverable as I am." Tori cheered.

The ground exploded as the enemy sacrificed both soldiers to detonate a shell next to Tori. Jade was there, just in time, with a powerful force shield. "I got you." The goth assured her lover. "It's okay."

"Princess, you can't maintain that for long. Blitz, if you really are faster, make your way to the flag, and get it. Princess, cover her. Golden Girl, guard our position. Their coming." Andre instructed them.

"Blitz, your not faster as much as more maneuverable. Use that. Make then chase you." Robbie said.

"Anyone seen Beck?" Andre asked. "He disappeared in one of the explosions. Cheshire, see if you can find Guardian."

"On it." Trina called out.

"Trina," Jade called over their radio link, "These robot dudes, their connected, right?"

"Yea?" The older girl asked. "No sign of Guardian. Not even scraps. Not sure what to make of that."

"Use their own com system to pop over to the flag. They have guards, so you use their system to get close, and grab the flag, then use the same system to pop back over here to our side of the battlefield." Jade explained.

"Great idea." Robbie said. "Except for the fact that their probably monitoring our communications. They'll be expecting it."

The ground at the far side of the field, the area where the robot men had set up their headquarters, exploded outwards as Guardian burst from the ground. His magnetic beams sliced a couple of the robotic men in half as he closed on their flags position. Moments later, the Canadian had the flag and was flying back at full speed.

"Princess, Golden Girl, cover Guardian's retreat." Andre called out. He was using all his powers to push back the incursion of he robotic men. 'Can't let them get our flag.'

Jade and Cat flew to intercept the small army of robotic foes that were massing to shoot Beck down. Both girls placed most of their power on defenses, and allowed themselves to be used as shields. Beck, meanwhile, dropped down to closer to the ground. Not wanting him to escape under ground, the robotic foes fired like mad at him. They clipped him, causing his defective fields to buckle. He went down.

But by then Tori could be seen racing from next to where he'd landed towards the home camp. "I got it." Tori called out. "I got it."

One of the robotic men got as close as it could, and detonated. Tori rolled head over heals, and found herself stunned by the impact. The others were closing in. Jade was burred by enemy firepower, holding her own but unable to get to her lover. Cat was in similar peril. The metal men were above Tori now, with her too stunned to reacts. But instead of firing, the robotic men shut down.

"And that was a thing." Trina called from home base, sitting next to Robbie.

"So what was the purpose of this game of capture the flag?" Jade asked. "Other then to show us how weird Sikowitz's imagination is?"

"The training equipment here is amazing." The quirky teacher said. "Three dimensional holograms, with force fields and who knows what else giving everything the illusion of being real. I've always wanted my own Star Trek Holodeck."

"So you had us play capture the flag to test it?" Tori asked. Normally she wasn't a critic of his teaching methods. But she knew, just like everyone else, that sometimes his goals weren't anyone else's.

"Nonsense." Sikowitz argued. "For your first foray into this dark new world, I wanted to set victory conditions that would challenge you, and make you work together."

"Rapidly self repairing robot men?" Beck asked.

"Cybermen." The teacher said. "Out of Doctor Who. They've been seen to fly, run fast, regenerate, and all kinds of other nifty stuff. I just gave them all those abilities. The reason Tori was more agile was the computer here just couldn't adjust their moves fast enough. But given the odds, you winning was amazing. I'm impressed. So, my students, I've decided not to test you on your lack of robot knowledge. There's a huge difference between Cyberman and robots."

"Like robots can be broken." Jade griped. "Really? You sent us against regenerating death machines?"

"Jade, we have no idea how likely or unlikely the odds that you will face enemies with nanotechnology allowing for rapidly regenerating cybernetic killing machines." The teacher scolded her.

"So?" Mal's voice cut in over the intercom. "How did the training system work? Can we use it? Can we copy it?"

"No." Sinjin's voice joined in. "That is, no copying this system. Someone used nanites to make most of the power conduits and circuit boards, with incredible levels of minute details. Taking it apart would ruin it. Our best choice of action is to study what we can, and hopefully we can some day make copies of the best if this things capabilities. But yes, We can use it. We'll be able to do a lot more training then what we'd been doing in the junkyard above."

"Then I'll let S.H.I.E.L.D. know that this is yet again another piece of alien technology thats beyond our ability to replicate. Lets hope it never falls into enemy hands." The level five agent said. Everyone suspected he'd wanted to hand this tech to his superiors on a silver platter.

"Yea, cause they might lure the kids into it, override the safety systems, convince the computer that they're supposed to be running that programs, and then use it to hurt us?" Sikowitz's voice was laced with sarcasm. "Talk about cartoony."

"And… He… I..." Tori tried to wrap her mind around the Cybermen they'd fought, and their teachers opinion of the dangers inherent in the training facility they were using.

"Tori, let it go." Jade told her girlfriend. "You always do that. You assume that he's gonna make sense, or Cat is going to follow some kind of logic trail, and when they don't, you're always left so surprised. Their not that kind of people. They have their own logic, and we don't get to know what goes on in their heads."

"Jade, as much as I enjoyed that nice speech, I'd like you all to come to the briefing room to go over what I saw today." The coconut lover said. "We have some interesting results to discuss."

Robbie walked to the briefing room, not sure what to make of the exercise. 'Sikowitz expected me to be on the field. I'm control, yet he sent me in there. I had to use my powers to modify the battle field just to have cover. And that doesn't make sense, cause there shouldn't have been rock or stone, and I can only make small stone guys. But whatever, I survived, uninjured, and no one's the wiser.'

"Okay, for starters, we should address the elephant in the room." Sikowitz said. "I sent Robbie in there both because he's part of the team, and to give you another obstacle. You passed, initially, having Cat stay back to protect him. But once Cat moved forward, no one was watching Robbie. Yes, it was a game of capture the flag, but your teammate was there, in danger, and if we're honest, the real test was if you could have accomplished your goals while protecting the civilians. We just got lucky the landscape had a small stone outcropping shaped enough to act as a bunker, or one of the explosions might have done some damage."

"How'd the system know to pull back on those of us who couldn't take it?" Andre asked. "Or did you just set it, and hope?"

"Oh, it has a dozen or more safety systems." Sinjin explained. He'd been in the room to help out if the technology got too out of hand for the older man to deal with.

"Yes, took me hours to shut them all off." Sikowitz added.

"You shut off the safety systems?" Andre exclaimed. He couldn't believe his teacher would take such risks.

"I needed to see how you protected one another." The quirky teacher said. "Plus, it wouldn't let me run my Cybermen the way I wanted unless I turned off the safety. Look on the bright side. No one got hurt, and Jade was most likely going to live, even if they atomized her."

"So, anything else?" Tori asked.

"Yes, the elements seemed to act like elements while the system is on. You get wet, with real water. Beck tunneled through the earth, without leaving a hole in the floor…." The trainer said.

"She meant about us?" Jade cut him off.

"Oh, yes." Sikowitz said. "I now know that all of you have the ability to improve. Tori can get faster, but also learn tricks to use her speed. Trina is going to learn tricks, as well as how to use various beacons and other things to get around the frequency blockers I used to keep her from popping over, grabbing the flag, and popping back."

"And Cat can get stronger, and I can get stronger, and Beck has all kinds of tricks he can learn." Jade added. "Talk to us one on one, so we're not here all day."

"Not yet." The balding teacher said. "Your teamwork was a vast improvement over most of what I'd seen up until now. You react well to Andre's instructions, but you also are getting better at figuring out what to do in any given situation. Jade, I'm expecting you to further develop your mystic whatswho and help coordinate the team."

"Huh?" The goth princess asked.

"Your mystic communication ability. I understand it's a mental connection, or can be used as a mental connection. I think, with practice, you can set up something like a psychic radio, make communicating on the noisy battlefield easier. And with luck, when you slip up and use each others real name, no one will be able to hear."

Jade looked thoughtful for a moment. "Okay, I know we agreed to my codename, but I have a problem."

"Babe, whats wrong?" Tori asked, wrapping her arm around the dark haired beauty.

"Everyone's calling me princess out there." Jade groused. "That hasn't exactly been a compliment in my life."

"Too bad." Mal said. "Jade, we use the code names cause their not you. You're Power Princess now, and Princess is easier then Power girl. Just let it go."

"Okay, as requested, I'll make a full report on what I've learned about each of you to Andre, and then send you all copies. But for now, I feel I owe Robbie a personal apology." Sikowitz said. "So why don't I take Rob here to my office, and the rest of you stay close, cause I want to have you near if we need to discus something that Robbie observed."

"I knew it." Cat said. "You were there to spy on us. Admit it."

"Cat, I was scared out of my mind." The nerdy boy said. "I could have wound up seriously dead. Trust me, whatever I observed, it was through a haze of panic."

"And yet he did his job." Andre added. "We're all proud of you for that."

The others made their way out, but Robbie wasn't sure if he wanted the apology. Sikowitz had specifically placed him in danger. 'He probably wanted to see if I could handle the stresses of combat.' the young mystic thought. 'So he put me in danger. However, if I did impress him, Sinjin's more likely to be willing to build me a power suit. I just need to be magnanimous..'

"Rob, where's Rex?" Sikowitz asked.

"My room." The boy replied. 'Why so interested in Rex?'

"I noticed, for a while, you were growing apart from your, um, other half." The teacher said. "But since things got weird, you two have actually gotten closer. You're more dependent on him. It worries me."

"How so?" Rob asked. "Wait, are you gonna apologize for placing me in danger, or was that a trick to figure out if I'm too dependent on Rex?"

"Oh, I'm going to apologize. I just needed to set the stage. A good apology is specific, so there's no confusion over what the individual was sorry about." Sikowitz looked serious, sincere. "I needed you to know I'm sorry for placing you in the line of fire. I'd long noticed the similarity between your aura and the unidentifiable one Jade has. I knew you were some kind of mystic. But I also noticed, as Jade continues to practice and grow stronger, her aura changes and grows. I came to the conclusion that either you were deliberately avoiding telling us about your abilities, or you didn't know. By placing you in danger, I'd hoped to activate whatever powers you had that may have lain dormant. But now I understand. Geokinesis seems like an awesome power, but with your apparent limits, I wouldn't rush to the battlefield either. I saw the flow of your power as the rock men stood up, formed the barrier, then fused themselves back together. Intriguing ability, and small potatos compared to the likes of Jade or Cat. Hell, Beck was practically tailor made to rip your little men apart. I'm content to continue using you in your current role."

"Oh." Rob was stunned. 'I can't do anything to Sikowits, the others would ask questions. And the last thing Rex wants to do is piss off Jade. No, we need to figure out how to use Tori to turn Jade, then Jade to turn Tori and Trina. With just them, we can take the world.'

"So I'm sorry I placed you in that kind of danger. It won't happen again." The teacher said.

"No problem." Rob replied. "Just, don't tell anyone. I don't want them to look down on me any more then they do."

"How could having powers make them look down on you more?" Sikowitz said.

"Right now, I'm the normal who's pushing aside my fears to help out. But if they knew I had powers, just lame ones, then I'd be the cowered who avoided front line fighting to be support." The mystic explained. "I'd rather be seen as brave then useless."

"I doubt the others would think that of you." The coconut lover said. "But I do see how, after all this time, telling them would lead to problems. So I'll keep your secret."

"Thanks." Robbie said as he got up to leave. "One more thing. Whats up with wanting to know where Rex was?'

"I noticed a lot of your power focused in him. I was assuming he was more alive now. But the big thing was, I didn't need his influence cause I was sure he'd make fun of you for having powers and not using them." Sikowitz explained.

"No need to worry." Rob said. "I use him as a focus for the rituals that help me call the earth to obey. He's the focus of the rituals. But since we're keeping this between us, let not bring up Rex either."

"As you wish." The teacher said.

Robbie returned to his room, finding Rex on the phone again. "No, mister Ward, I'm not happy about this. I'd prefer to go through my usual go between. But you said you wanted to talk to the boss, and thats me. Now when will I get my cyborgs. I have people to kill, and with luck, a world to take over."

Robbie imagined that Grant Ward wasn't the kind of person who liked having that tone taken with him. But Rex was getting impatient. Hydra's cyborgs had been promised a while ago. But instead of showing up, or even being routed towards L.A., they'd remained off wherever. And more frustrating for Rex was that all they'd heard were excuses.

"Good, we'll be watching for them." The anger puppet said, then slammed the phone. Robbie'd gotten him an old fashion phone, cheaply, just so Rex would have the physical pleasure of slamming the phone when agitated. "So, what'd Sychowitz want?"

"To apologize." Rob informed his partner. "He'd put me in the simulation to foster teamwork. He'd expected the others to make more of an effort to keep me safe. He was sorry for putting me in danger for nothing."

"Rob, when are you gonna learn." Rex sighed as he spoke. "They're not really your friends. Sikowitz may say he did it for teamwork, but he really just wanted to watch you squirm. They all do. Remember, I'm your only friend, and there are times I can't stand you. How could anyone else be there for a loser like you. No, you keep acting as my man inside, and when it's all over, I'll let you have choice of my rejects. That is, assuming there's no one cooler I'm trying to win over. Grant just got kicked down a place or two on my like list. He's a winner, and sometimes those guys don't know how to work and play well with others."

"So were finally getting the Deathlocks?' The nerdy boy wondered aloud.

"Yea, and I don't buy for an instant there was technical problems." Rex opened up as he paced. "Grant knows how valuable those guys could be for him. Why give us choice soldiers, people he knows we're probably going to get mulched, when he has other uses for them."

"Except they're not easy to control." The puppeteer corrected his so called friend. "I believe it, that the delays were him using them for what they were worth. But in the end, he can't let them get too powerful. He has to use them against a solid foe, and thats our team."

"Think they'll at least take out Andre?" The puppet asked. It's cold eyes showed an almost demonic hatred of the musician.

"No." Robbie replied. "Besides, I thought you liked Andre?"

"He's cool, and I like cool, but he's got major weaknesses. Which brings up a point. Why haven't we found us a girl like Griffon to work her way into Andre's trust?" The question hung in the air, heavy but to one of them, almost comical.

"Maybe because Andre changes girl friends like I change my socks." Rob said.

"About once a month? Yea, that tracks." Rex smirked. Somehow, the cold puppet face smirked.

"Two, he's far more trained then any of us." Robbie absorbed the insult, and let it go. "Unlike Trina, who wouldn't see the guy coming, Andre would quickly get past the pretty face and figure out that someone is trying to play him. And three, in case that wasn't enough, any girl capable of staying close to him would have to be cleaver. Griffon we can handle, he's not that bright. Charming as anything, but we knew his weaknesses before we ever approached him. Without that kind of leverage, we risk making another enemy. Not gonna make another enemy."

"So we're looking into the spy girl then?" The puppet said, seeming to ignore everything his other half had said. "Just, make sure you're playing the others while looking for weaknesses. Sikowitz is clueless, and Sinjin's actually worth money. A scientist like him, and is sister, that big bucks."

"Don't worry." The nerdy boy said. "I have them all completely fooled."

A while later, Andre walked into an ally cautiously, looking around for a possible trap. "Okay, I'm alone." He called out to the darkness.

"No your not." Called back, in that Howdy Doody voice. "If you were the kind to take that kind of risk, then I wouldn't have a use for you.,"

"Okay, I have men hidden near by, and Cheshire on alert." The musician turned spy said. "Feeling better?"

"Much." The voice said. It was closer now. "Mister Harris, I'm only coming to you because there's a wolf at your back. You've embraced a viper to your very breast. The simple fact is, you, your friends, all of us, are in danger because this monster, this foe, has been allowed to fester and grow under our collective eyes. But I'm dedicated to stopping him, even if it means my very life."

"Very noble of you." Andre called, while quietly switching on his passive sonar. An image of the ally slowly formed in his mind from the analysis of the echoes of random noises. "Why don't you break cover so we can talk?"

"You're use of sound waves really is amazing." The voice was somehow behind him now. "I'll bet your forming a mental image of every nook and cranny in this ally. But I chose it, so I know the best places to hide. obviosly, I've been studying you. Not as hard as you might thing. I've been shadowing your viper wolf, and from it's scraps I've learned so much about all of your little group."

'Keep talking.' The Agent thought. 'I'm zeroing in on ya, getting the rebounded sound and filtering it. Gonna learn if your really there, or just a well hidden intercom.' Shifting, he deliberately knocked down a piece of trash, letting it's almost silent echo reverberate down the ally and back. 'Just a little longer…..'

Andre froze as the image started to form. Information gleamed included where this man was, if he was in body armor, that kind of chiz. 'No, can't be…?." Andre's mind struggled to make sense of the readings. Composition, size, everything. 'I-it's a…'

"Hello, Mister Harris, my name is Goonter." The puppet said as he stepped out of the shadows. "And I believe it's high time the two of us talked. Just a reminder, something I learned during my studies, while I was trying to decide the best course of action. Spooking your enemy before you know his plans can be bad. We don't know what this evil force is up to. But for your information, and this is important, Robbie's just the tool. I want him reformed, given chance to be a hero. He's been under the thumb for far too long. No, the enemy here is Rex powers, and we need to figure out how to stop him, without alerting him that we're onto him."

:}

Okay, now someone knows about Rex. But it's not the same as acting upon that information. Goonter knows Rex has had time to set things in motion, set up protections. Still, it was time for an ally, and Goonter chose the one man he felt could go back and pretend everything was normal. I guess we can say the sides are starting to form. But is it too late?

Reviews, comments, and unabashed hero worship is encouraged. Just use the review for the first two, and an alter set with rose petals and a picture is good for the last. Just, review.


	8. Chapter 8 A funy thing happened one nigh

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or any of their original characters. I just played around and saw what I could do with them.

Sorry about the wait. Writers block.

:}

Trina was waiting by the park, after dark, hoping tonight would bring her an answer she wanted so badly. She'd acquired an office, equipment, everything to follow the leads and figure out the patters. If they'd used some kind of investigative tool in one of her crime drama's, she'd used it, to the point where she was even wondering if maybe someone placed a spy someplace close to her, like one of Griffons new friends. Still, for weeks she'd gathered no useful information, until she started to see the links in what was blocking her search for new data. She hated to think it, but the more she looked at the patters, the more she believed their was a mole somewhere in the organization.

Her early work had suffered the flaw that she didn't know what she was doing. All that changed when she 'hired' Robin, a conspiracy nut a need to prove themselves. It was almost funny. B 'Hiring' an intern, someone both dedicated enough to go through all the papers and with the skills to figure things out, they were able to start to sort through the mountain of information and theories. From there, they started to sort through the connections, no matter how tenuous, until new theories and patters started to emerge. They were making progress. And Trina was able to see what she'd really been missing.

There was more then one effect going on there.

'Apparently, in addition to some kind of terrigen infestation, we have the results of some kind of experimentation. Runoff of some sort that is affecting people and things.' The girl said to herself as she looked over the image of her white board, frozen on her phones screen. Her office, the one she'd acquired in the abandoned but still functional building, was now more organized thanks to Robin. 'But there is a link. Someone is playing us. And tonight, I meet someone who claimed that they could help me. I just hope it's not another jerk looking for a hookup.'

"Excuse me, but would you like to buy some fudge balls?" A Sunshine girl asked.

"Isn't it a bit late to be out?" The Inhuman asked. Her eyes darted around, making sure no one in this sketchy neighborhood was planning anything. 'This girls so young, I'd hate to think of what they might do to her.'

"It's okay, I'm not alone." The girl smiled.

"Still..." Trina looked around for whatever adult was monitoring this child. But the girl seemed to be by herself. "Look, I'm supposed to be meeting someone, but if you'd like, I can take you someplace safe, then come back. Tell your friend to come too. I just don't think this is the safest neighborhood to be wandering around in."

"It's okay, they really can't see me." The girl insisted. "Besides, I've watched, and this is a very safe neighborhood. Undercover cops and private security for a couple of local businesses help keep the bad influences away. It's why I asked for us to meet here. I'm Emily."

"Okay, Emily, lets take this by the numbers." Trina started, trying to wrap her mind around everything she'd just been told. 'She asked to meet me? No way. Lets see if this is a trap, or if this girl is just cray cray.' Looking into the blond girls green eyes, Trina worried that someone had hurt this young lady. "How many boxes do you have on hand?"

"Three." The girl said. "Okay, four, but one box is for a friend of a friend."

"I'll take two." The older girl said. "Now, Emily, what do you mean, you wanted to meet here?"

"You've been investigating the strange goings on, right?" The girl asked. "The experimentation with dark forces, used to enchant some items. The way their being done is unbalanced, and causing mystic runoff. They could have been done it better, but I suspect that would have taken a longer, and this foe doesn't like to wait. And you were looking into that, asking questions. Just, you've been kinda loud, and everyone has heard you. I just wanted to see if I should be warning you off, or comparing notes."

"If these people are so dangerous, shouldn't you be leaving this to the adults?" Trina asked, now more on guard. 'She's just a kid, right?'

"My friend, the one who wants the fudge balls for his friend, said that he wants me away from danger too. Taught me how to go unnoticed. But that involved using others to shield myself when crossing the street, since people can't see me." The girl explained. "He taught me all kinds of neat tricks. And I wanna help, so I'm contacting everyone who's been looking and managed to see the patter, even if they don't fully know what it means."

"And you know what it means?" Trina asked.

"It means that the world is changing, allowing those who used to live only in shadow to step out and do things. Some will be good, other, quite bad, but the changes will give them even more power to affect their world." Emily said. "It also means that the mystics are growing stronger. We kinda hafta be, since we're the once charged with keeping the world safe from… Exterior problems. Not sure I totally understand that part yet. I'm training to be a wizardess, or a dancer. Maybe a lawyer? I don't know yet. But I do know that if I don't help my friend, then our city, maybe even our world, will be so much worse off for it. What I didn't expect was for you to be one of those enhanced peoples."

"How'd you know?" Trina asked.

"It takes some effort to see your aura, but the fields, their different when you have powers. Even the powers I have, skill based, have altered my aura, giving me a glow that anyone in the know would be able to decipher." The Sunshine girl said.

"And you just what, look at everyone just in case?" Trina asked again.

"It's not like that! My friend, he's in a war for the soul of his spiritual brother. He needs us. Or the dark one will cause so much pain. I'm afraid he enjoys the pain of others." Something in the girls voice moved Trina.

'This is serious.' She thought. "Okay, tell me everything."

"You already know, or you know enough." Emily stated. "When it's time, you will have to be ready to help us help a friend." The Sunshine girl sniffled, recovering from her outburst. "That'll be six dollars for the fudge balls."

Robbie was out walking, trying to wrap his mind around the conversation he'd had with Andre.

"You know, Rob, I never truly depreciated everything you did for us, in the past." The musician had said. "I mean, I thought you were replaceable, any agent could man the satellites and be our eyes in the skies. But it takes a lot more then that, doesn't it. You have to know us, be ready to anticipate how we'd react in any given situation. I guess I didn't factor in how well you knew us. Look, man, I know you wanna help, get into the action. But I'm not sure anyone else could give us the support you do."

Robbie touched his arm, where the trained agent had, and thought on what he'd been told. How Andre had said "Look, I know it sucks, never getting the glory. Support is always about giving of yourself so someone else can shine. But you do it so well. And I'm telling you now, S.H.I.E.L.D. notices when someone is good at a job. Like you. I'm not saying we're gonna avoid getting you a suit, or whatever. I'm just saying that when we do, your job is still gonna be almost the same. With how different the gang is from other teams, it may get hard to coordinate them without your constant input."

It was the nicest thing he'd heard in a long time from his friend. 'Is he my friend? Rex doesn't think so. But sometimes I got the feeling we were close, maybe not friends, but not strangers either. Can I trust him? Should he trust me? I don't know? The plan, it's going so well. But there are factors we haven't figured in, like Jade's brother, or any of the reactions the others will have when things start going down. Plus, I doubt these cyborgs Mister Ward is providing us with will be any good against….'

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a struggle, a muffled scream followed by the sounds of grunts as someone hauled something, possibly another someone. Looking down a short ally, the nerdy boy saw a girl, about his age, being pulled by three men. The man didn't look like her, not close enough to maybe be related, and their hands were finding far too intimate places to touch and grope. The girl, she looked like she wanted to scream, shout, do anything to stop them from loading her into their van. But Robbie knew that look, how scared she was of what they might do to her if she resisted any more then she'd already tried.

One of the men saw Robbie, staring off at them like he was lost. "Nerd, don't be a hero. We're just showing this girl a good time before we take her home." The thug watched as Robbie's face morphed into one of anger. Feed by Goonters influence, and his own feelings of being abused and powerless, he had the desire to rip these guys heads off. "What? You gonna try something? Feeling froggy? Jump, little froggy…." For several seconds, the boy stared, not seeming to do anything. A smile crossed the other mans face, moving the band aid he wore on the side of his face, something gang members sometimes do since that detail makes it just a bit harder for others to remember details of their faces. "I didn't think so. You're not gonna do nothing."

Robbie wasn't responding at all, not even with the fear he'd usually show in this kind of situation. Instead, his mind was rolling across the ally, in the form of dozens of pebbles. Maybe he could pull together a pound of the stuff, just enough for the plot he was hatching. But that much concentration, to do it while being insulted and not let go of a single grain of sand, was a testament to what he was capable of.

The two small rock men formed from the pebbles moved in opposite directions. One placed himself in front of the vehicle, moving so that when the vehicle moved, his thin arms would push through the layers of rubberized metal and puncture the tire. Fingers sharpened to almost a point, as the small stone body shifted to be right in front of the van's tires. 'With luck, that will stop them before they get too far away. I wish there was time to call for help… No Robbie, your a fully grown boy. You can do this!"

The first rock man was in position as the van started to roll out. The men were sure Robbie wouldn't do anything, but not so sure that someone else might not come down the ally, and call 911. So the van started to peel out, only to run over the positioned rock man. His now sharpened arms punctured the tire, exploding the air out of the small hole it had created.

The results were instant. The van, having only starting to move, skidded to an awkward stop. The men jumped out of the vehicle to see what, or who, had taken out their tire.

But by then, the rock man had reformed and rolled himself into a ball. The other rock soldier helped lift the ball, hurling it towards the back of the knee of one of the thugs as they discussed what to do next. All the while, Robbie was on the opposite side, controlling the action.

The missile struck the target right behind his knee, with enough force to cause minor but painful damage, as well as giving the man a distinctive limp for the next few days. But the target was far more specific then just s short term injury. The man who'd been struck felt his knee buckle from the impact, and his own body weight. He went down to his knees, grunting in pain. 'That guys going to have trouble standing for a while, but I didn't do anything permanent. Then again, I have another soldier on that field."

The other soldier had by that time made his way into the van. Small legs gave great leaps into the open door, scurrying across the floor to where the girl had been tossed, bound by some quick wrapping of duct tape. Not taking time to do more then fill Robbie in on what it saw, using another of his abilities to give him a mental picture of what the small soldier saw, it moved from cover to cover until it was next to the girl. She lay there, bound and whimpering. Using the same trick of sharpening it's hand, the small rock man sliced the tape, freeing her to get away. It then moved towards the back door, trying to lead her out. But she was terrified, not yet aware that her bonds had been severed, and very afraid of what the men were going to do to her. She didn't move. Robbie didn't initially notice as his soldier had leapt up to the handle, and by using the door as a leverage point, turned it enough to open the door.

Outside, the first rock man had reformed and repositioned himself. Needing to buy more time, the small soldier had used it's great strength, nearly that if a six foot man, to grab a second guys ankle and twist, tripping him up. The mans arms windmilled as he felt himself falling towards the ground. Unlike the first guy, this one was unprepared to fall, landing on his side and face. Robbie knew that his soldiers lacked the leverage to do much, not by twisting the ankle, but still it could inflict injuries to this kidnapping would be rapist. So it struck the man in the muscle, to cause pain and reduce his ability to move. The soldier rolled himself up so that his blows were functionally hitting with the full mass of his body, like a running splash, and three such blows later, the thug would have trouble standing.

"What the fuck?" The original taunter, the only one who could move unhindered at the moment, asked. "Are you doing this?" His eyes glared at Robbie, hand reaching for a weapon.

Robbie knew he had to do something to avoid getting shot by the confused criminal. 'Maybe he's just looking for anyone to blame, but I'm not taking a bullet for this.' The puppeteer thought as he sent his will to shift the nearer rock man. The stone man expanded, taking all of Robbie's consideration, leaving the one in the van to drop to the ground, abandoned. But the original stone man was now an ultra thin shell of a man, almost six foot tall. While it still had the strength it had previously possessed, it lacked the substance to do anything more then intimidate.

Then again, to the assailants, street born thugs who were a little drunk, this was the proof they needed that a super had arisen to stop them. The thug pulled out his gun, putting three holes in the form, and unknowingly the van behind it, while yelling "YOU WON'T GET ME!" Robbie pushed with all his might to seal those holes before the man could tell this foe was hollow.

"Lets get out of here." The one with the injured knee called to his friends. The other injured man nodded, struggling to get to his feet.

"But the van?" The uninjured one asked.

"Leave it." The last man said, taking hold of the other wounded one for support as they hobbles out of sight as quickly as they could. Only the man with the gun hesitated, not willing to give up that easily. But he didn't know if the strange young man watching them was their cause of his misery, or just a witness. He did know he probably wasn't a match for this stone man who confronted him.

"Nerd boy, you didn't see nothing." He yelled at Rob, pointing the gun at him before running away. Rob noted how he ran the opposite direction from his friends, probably planning on meeting up somewhere later.

Now safe, the puppeteer took a moment to let his puppets go and relax. The thin sheen of sweat that covered him testified to the effort it'd taken to manipulate his soldiers. Still, he knew he wasn't done, and walked over to the van and around to the now open back door. "It's okay. I saw someone, or something, passing by and alerted it. It-It scared them off. Were you with them?" It was a strange question. One look and he could tell this girl was a victim. He just didn't know what type.

"Oh god!" The girl whaled, and fell onto herself.

Robbie dialed 911, and then waited for the police to arrive, offering what little help he could. He knew that she wasn't ready to be touched, not right now. Shame, and fear, were eating away at her. Just like him, when he was still a victim. He watched her rocking, terrified of what might happen next when she admitted she was sexually assaulted. The fear of being judged, or thought of as less for not fighting back, was evident in her tearful eyes. As much as he wanted to hold her, let her know it was going to be all right, another part was sneering at her weakness. So he just stayed with her until the authorities arrived..

One the police, and an ambulance, arrived on the scene, Robbie acted the part of witness, directing them to the girl. "I saw the guys running off, some shape following them. I'm thinking it was one of those weirdo's we've been hearing so much about. One with powers. I'm personally thankful that this guy, or girl, was here, cause I think they were gonna rape her. I wasn't gonna do anything, cause what could I do?"

"Calling us was the right thing to do." The officer assured him. "That, and taking the Van's license plate. We'll take it from here." When Rob hesitated, the officer added "You did a good thing."

Robbie felt a strange pride as he watched the girl being walked away from the van towards an ambulance. 'Okay, maybe I did have to rely on trickery where any one of my friends could have taken all three in a second, but I did it. I saved her.'

Far off, Goonter smiled. It had been able to use it's link, enhanced by Emilies spells, to feel the boys reactions, watching him through the same stone men he was using against the thugs. 'He's not too far gone.' The good puppet thought. 'Worth the sacrifice, if I get the chance. But first…' The guardian spirit concentrated harder. "Rob, Rex doesn't need to know about this. As far as he'd be concerned, it was a needless risk that got you nothing. So lets keep it our little secret." The guardian spirit hoped that Robbie would follow that impulse, and that Rex, his evil twin, would never know

"Mister Goonter, I have the fudge balls." Emily said as she walked into the small converted child's fort. They'd found it a while ago, abandoned, near Robbie's current home. It turned out to need some repairs, but then was the perfect place for them to use as a headquarters. While it lacked many of the electronic equipment the Champions, S.H.I.E.L.D., or even Trina used, it was now well stocked with the magic supplies the Emily would need in her growing quest to help save the world. "Too bad there's not a badge for that." She sighed.

"For what?" The supportive pupped asked.

"Saving the world." The sunshine girl said.

"Oh, there is." Gooner replied. "But it's never been given out, not publicly, cause just having it would so change how everyone looked at you. But don't worry, when this is over, if I can, I'll make sure you get that badge. Just, if you would, let the others do the heavy fighting."

"Yea, about that." The blond said, looking out the small, now shaded, window. "I may have found my champion. She's pretty. Annoying, can't sing, but driven and powerful enough. I think she'll do nicely."

/

Andre wasn't sure what to believe. He'd been following Robbie that day, but why? 'Did I want to prove what Goonter said was right, or wrong? Maybe I was still hoping he was some kind of remote controlled android, sent to disrupt my team? Maybe…' The musician watched Robbie calling for the police, heard the radio response in his earpeice.

Andre went over what he'd just seen in his mind, point by point. 'Robbie, he heard the commotion, followed them into the ally. Heroic, but stupid. That is, unless he's wearing some kind of body armor, and wasn't as afraid of what they'd do to him. But he went, and tried to help.'

The scent played out again in his mind. How the small stone soldiers did as they were asked. 'Those stone men, their not that powerful, not on their own. But they're practically indestructible. If they crumble, he can just reform them, giving him instant replacements. But what really caught me was that the boy was starting to think more tactically.'

He'd been ready to hop off the low roof he'd ascended and ride the van until he could take out the three men and save the girl. That had been his intent when he'd seen what they men were doing. His reason for hesitating, at least what he he told himself, was to make sure the girl was safe. However, deep inside, he suspected he just didn't want Robbie to know he was there. Still, he knew he had to do something. Anyone could guess that something bad was about to happen. But almost no one could have guessed what Robbie wound up doing.

'The small rock men, are they his limit? The bunker he'd found, in the training room, it was a lot bigger. Did he make that, or find it?' The hero wondered. 'But the way Rob used those stone dolls, it was with a practiced knowledge of what he can do, and how to best use them. That last trick, it was all bluff. Anyone could tell the stone was so thin, it cracked every time the thing moved.'

The young agent took a deep breath, then hopped off the roof and allowed his gliding unit to take over, seeming to fly into the ally just as the police were offering Robbie a ride home. "So, whats up?" He asked.

"Kidnapping and rape attempt." The officer said calmly, now used to the idea of these strange hero's occasionally showing up. "Something scared them off."

"Thats why I'm here." The costumed boy informed them. "I'm investigating the appearance of another potential super. Whatever you can tell me, it's much appreciated."

"That guy saw whatever, and he didn't see much." The officer said. "The girl, she was in the back, too broken up to be of much help. Our witness did try to comfort her as much as he could."

"So, who is she?" Andre asked. "I mean were the guys who took her people she knew, or was she chosen for some reason?"

"Come on, it was three horny, drunk thugs, probably not thinking too much about who they were taking." The officer replied, obviously tired of dealing with armatures.

"Except they tried an abduction in the middle of the city, in front of how many witnesses?" The boy replied. "They had a van here, in the ally. This wasn't as random as you think. I'm guessing there's a reason they took her. Maybe revenge, maybe something else."

"Good theory, except she claims she doesn't know these guys." Another police officer said.

"Never said we were dealing with direct revenge." The hero said with a sigh. "Either she'd involved with whomever they wanted to hurt, or whomever wanted her hurt was hiring these boys, or maybe they just wanted someone from where she worked, and she was the first one they saw." He pointed out the possibilities.

"We'll look into it." The officer in charge said, taking over the conversation with the young Champion. "But most likely, if there was a reason, we'll have a hard time figuring it out. We have a detective on rout who might, if we're lucky, help."

"She goes to a private school not far from here." Someone said. One of the growing crowd. "I think thats why they took her. They were gonna ransom her back when they were done."

"No, this was as random as it looked." Robbie said softly. "I'm thinking, that there's something else that brought them here, and she was a snag of opportunity. Look at how she's dressed. Not a lot of money. I'm thinking she was going to be entertainment, then maybe sold overseas. But these guys, they were hear making a delivery. Empty van like that, makes sense."

"And what were they delivering?" Andre asked as he scanned the van. "Looks like something heavy, probably crates. Too bad they got away, cause without them, we'll never know what was being delivered."

"I'm just glad they were stopped." Rob said. "Look, I'm going home. Call if you need me." As the boy walked away, he wondered if them being there had anything to do with his deal with Grant Ward. 'Make a deal with the devil…'

:}

I know, kinda confusing. But the point is, Robbie's not totally lost yet. Loved planning his actions out. Lots to think about.

Review, let us know how we're doing. Looking forward to hearing from you.


	9. Chapter 9 The encounter at the airport

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, agents of shield, or any of their characters.

:}

Grant Ward marveled at the concept of being exposed. There was a time when he'd walked into far more dangerous situation then this without feeling exposed at all. But this was different. Back then, he was the loyal soldier, doing what he had to for an organization he believed in. Back then, even Hydra, with all it's many criminal endeavors, was something that could be believed in. Total law enforcement, at any cost. Killing millions of people to keep the rest manageable was a small price to pay for bringing world peace, even if it was the peace of the gun.

But these days, his priorities had changed. Gone were the days when he was working for someone else's goals. Now, he was making his own plans, and a criminal Hydra worked better for his current ones. However, a criminal leader doesn't stick his head out when he can avoid it. So tonight, despite the many precautions, was a huge risk. 'But to get what I need, a very manageable risk.'

He waited for the current generation of his cyborg warriors to exit the plane. Their cybernetics were closer to what the Winter Soldier was equipped with, as opposed to the equipment the Deathlock program had made. Without the serum giving them enhanced strength, they would have to rely on the cybernetics to do that for them. Slightly slower, not quite as effective, these men were still far more deadly then most soldiers. 'They were the survivors of the Hellicarier disaster, cybered up and ready to get some revenge. I'll bet killing Steve Rogers pet musician would make them happy.' Grant mused as he walked through the small, private airport. A couple of vans were waiting outside to drive them to the safe house in the city.

He watched as the dozen heavily armed and rebuilt soldiers walked through the darkened airport. "Have you found a place for them to stay?" He asked the figure near by.

Robbie was waiting near the vans, watching the men walk past. "Lots of places in West Hollywood where people wouldn't look twice." The boy quipped.

"This isn't a joke." Grant warned the nerdy looking boy. "I know you work for someone heavy, but I'm not in the mood for any amateur shenanigans. This is a hit squad. They do the job, then disappear into the night."

"No problem." Robbie said. "Just, we weren't expecting you. I thought I'd meet them, give the pass code, and take them to where they'd stay until we were ready to use them."

"Change of plan." Grant said. "My people in S.H.I.E.L.D. say they've got a man inside your organization. Knew about tonight's arrival."

"But the're not here." The now nervous boy said.

"It's an unreliable source." The former agent said. "Or rather, their not treating it as a reliable source. I know whomever it was was dead on, so I came to see what you were going to do about it."

"Given how tightly we've held this secret, and how few people know about it, I'd say change all plans and get your people out of here. You can keep the payment, and we'll deliver the rest as promised, but we've been compromised." Robbie reached for his panic button, hidden in his pocket. It was in the form of a delicate but stable egg like device, that once crushed, would pop him up to a few miles away.

"What are you playing at?" Grant asked. 'He's abandoning the plan, even though my sources say S.H.I.E.L.D isn't anywhere near this airport? What isn't he telling me?'

"Remember, they have a teleporter." Rob said, then broke his egg. He popped out just as the others popped in.

"Grant Ward." Andre said. "Been a while."

"Andre Harris. Come to play with the big boys?" Grant taunted. 'I've seen him fight. Captain American helped train him. I have at best a thirty percent chance of taking him without weapons, and he's armed better then I am. But this is the show I came for.' A click of a button and his men knew to come running. Weapons out, they opened fire with a precision that would have amazed most people.

What they hadn't counted on was Cat, Jade and Beck being able to track their movements. Defensive fields rose to block the incoming rounds, as the Champions turned to enter the fight. "Okay, we have a dozen highly trained cyborgs, former S.H.I.E.L.D. response team members who'd sometimes back up Captain America on missions. Then we have a former level six agent, very dangerous, who needs to be taken down a peg. Tori, stay moving and try to get their guns. These guys won't make any mistakes. Trina, Grants too dangerous for you. Keep moving, see if you can drop one or more of these guys from any height. Beck, Jade, take the fight to them. Cat, take Mister Ward." Andre informed them over the now secure mental communications network Jade had worked so hard to build for them. It relied on both her being awake, and a hand full of tokens that served as focal point for the spells, but it meant a radio that couldn't be bugged or overheard.

Grant couldn't believe it when the petite redheaded girl walked up to him as the others scattered to face off against his men. "You may want to help them." He said. "Those men make the guys you faced at the marina look like children."

"Kay kay." The girl said, then turned and ran towards the gunfire.

'Did that just work?' The experienced agent wondered. 'And why didn't I remember the teliporter? Oh right, cause she's just a kid.' He started stalking off to find a place to observe the battle.

The battle wasn't as one sided as he'd hoped. The cyborgs knew their own strengths and weaknesses. They also knew which ones of their opponents were the one's to watch out for. So lanyards attached guns to bodies, while target priority said take out the heavy hitters first. Using next generation weapons, the agents were able to focus the majority of their fire power on the three strongest, while holding off the others.

They forgot about only one thing. Distortion's weapons were sonic in nature. He found it easy, almost comical, to bypass their padding by aiming at their metal pieces. Vibrations interfered with the movements of parts, slowing them down and taking away their reaction time. "Jade, close and take them out. Try to avoid getting hit." The young leader called out.

The Asguardian was already moving. Unfortunatly, unknown to anyone else, she wasn't avoiding the bullets so much as pumping up her own defenses and taking the hits. With the volume of firepower pouring towards her team, Jade was worried that another of her friends would get seriously hurt. She'd chosen to block their attacks, causing her to stay at a distance rather then close in. It was keeping one of the best fighter out of the fight, often dancing over to block for another member of the team. But with all the damage she was absorbing, it was questionable how long she'd be able to stay in the fight.

'Damn, Jade's not listening. Need to push forward somehow, take guys out.' The musician thought. "Blitz, get something solid. A branch, a crowbar, anything like that. Once you have it, run past these guys and hit them with it as you go by." They'd already adjusted to his sonic weapons. He had to keep dodging to avoid being riddled with shells. That made it harder for him to fire back.

The younger Latina was already moving, grabbing a heavy piece of wood and coming back towards the fight. Taking hold with all her might, she swung on one of the cyborgs as she ran past. Only her reflexes allowed her to adjust in time to hit the cyborg, who'd attempted to duck. "These guys can track my movements." She called out. "If their reflexes could move fast enough, they'd be ripping me apart."

"I've been blocking for you." Jade informed the girl.

Tori wasn't able to process what her girlfriend had said. The club she was using had splintered from the impact, wrenching itself from her hand even as the man she'd hit went down. Blitz ran to safety to take a second to check her hands before seeking another club.

The former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents knew that one of their own had gone down, so switched up priorities. "Take the speedster down." One of them said, but they all knew the new target.

As the firepower being used to take down the various young hero's shifted, the others reacted. Beck, no longer being kept contained, amp-ed his taiser pulse up to near maximum, then shot two of the cyborgs. Both men fell, but would require multiple shots to keep down. "I've hit them with my best shot, and it only stunned them."

"Stunned is better then standing and firing." Andre replied.

"I've got this." Cat said, firing a pulse of energy towards one of the agents. He dodged to the side, firing a stream of ammo to track her movements. That burst of death fell short as a heavy box dropped out of the blue onto his head, knocking him to the ground while damaging his weapon.

"Someone target the teleporter." One of the cyborgs called out. "And bring down the speedster. Ignore princess, she's taken a lot of firepower. I doubt she has anything left."

Jade reacted to the reduction in shell volume heading her way to educate these men about how dangerous she really was. Closing on two, she took their weapons, using the lanyards to swing them around like toys. Then, once she had enough velocity going, she attempted to sweep several others in her path.

The men tried to dodge, only to find that Guardian had anticipated their moves. Distortion hit them with a wide angle sonic wave to slow them down just a hair, then the Canadian hit them with his taiser pulse. As the men tried to recover, the were bashed by Power Princess's swinging cyborg assault.

Tori took advantage to run by and grab a couple of enemies, dropping them in front of Jade's swinging assault. Both men were hurled across the air field by the impact. Cat, meanwhile, was hammering at an agent or two, her high energy pulse destroying the tarmac while driving the cyborg into the way of Trina's next disappearing trick. The agent found himself being dropped from over a hundred feet in the air. Cat just took aim and slammed him before he could shoot at Trina.

'Lets see, less then a minute, and already my cyborgs are being shredded. Worse, we didn't drop a single one of these kids. Still, I have my ace in the hole." Mister Ward thought. 'Hate to use it so soon, but sometimes one needs to escape.'

Tori was helping her sister clean up the battlefield as Andre and Beck made sure the cyborgs stayed down. Cat was watching for any other possible enemies who might show up. Jade, however, wasn't done. She looked for Ward, stretching her senses to their limits to feel the power of his talisman.

Seconds later, she shot out to where he'd been hiding. "Oh no you don't." She called, taking the discharge from the experimental energy weapon, the one he'd secretly had on him, in her chest. Her defensive shield was up, absorbing more then she'd expected, while deflecting most of what was left. Not willing to let any of her friends be subjected to that level of assault, she struck back at Ward with a quick punch, hoping she didn't break him too much.

The explosion rocked the airfield. Grant Ward exploded like five times his weight in TNT, hurling Jade away from him while leaving a notable divot in the runway. Later, he'd admit his big regret was only getting one of them in his explosion.

Jade was knocked loopy. Having already absorbed so much damage from cutting edge weapons, enhanced extra heavy arms since the cyborgs could carry the larger weapons, she was not able to take the remanding explosion and stay conscious. However, while Grant did go up like a thousand pound bomb, the damage wasn't enough to shred Jade like he'd hoped. Her field deflected enough to just let her be knocked out. She did fly over a hundred feet, destroying two small planes parked on the tarmac. Later she would swear to rip him limb from limb when they next met. Mostly, however, the explosion caused the other Champions to take cover to avoid shrapnel, while taking out their new communication system.

"Okay, lets do a check. Who's hurt?" Distortion called out.

"I'm fine." Trina replied. "I popped out as soon as I realized their was a burst. Took Tori with me, cause I think she was thinking the same thing."

"Nice of you." Beck groused. He'd been knocked down by the blast, and was conveniently closer to where grant had been then any of the others. "Cat?"

"I'm up, and fine." The petite girl replied. "Jade, however, she's gonna hurt someone when she comers too. Why didn't I hit him like I was supposed too?"

"I'm kinda glad you didn't." Beck said. "If you'd been the one on the receiving end of that explosion, I doubt you'd be in such good shape. I'm fine, just a little banged up."

"Hello, can anyone hear me?" Courtney's voice cut in on the regular radio transmission. "I just wanted to say that the diagnostic unit in Guardians armor is reporting bruises all over, including a bruised rib or two. He's not all right."

"How?" Tori asked, worried about her friend.

"Obviously, he was heading towards Jade when everything went boom." Trina filled her in. "If he'd taken cover, odds are he'd have been out of the blast wave."

"Now I feel bad." The singer complained. "I'm dating Jade. I should have been worried about her too."

"True." Trina smiled as she popped her sister close to where the goth lay, still unconscious. "Except you know how fast she heals. Even now, exhausted from protecting all of us, she's still only gonna be out for a few minutes at most."

"I-I guess your right." Tori stepped towards her girlfriend, worried about disturbing the scene.

"That means you have seconds at most to cop a feel." Trina continued.

"CHESHIRE!" Blitz screamed in frustration.

"Good, use code names while cussing your sister out." Distortion cheered her. "Golden Girl, how long until Princess is up?"

"I'm not too sure." The redhead said, looking concerned. "I'm guessing she's gone to sleep."

"Wake her." Andre said.

"Not always a good idea." Beck cut in, still holding his ribs. "Sometimes, she wakes up swinging."

"Just… Just get her to base." The musician said. "Then we can figure out what to do next. Cat, monitor her condition. Tori, I know you heal fairly fast, so I'll expect you to be on standby in case we need to react to a crises. And someone tell S.H.I.E.L.D. we have these guys."

"Too bad Robbie was busy." Cat said while watching her friend. "I'll bet he could have warned us about that trick."

"Yea, busy." Andre repeated. 'Why wasn't he here? My source said he'd be here? Did we miss him? Was Goonter wrong? Or maybe, just maybe, he had an escape rout ready, just in case.'

Robbie pulled himself out of the dumpster he'd been deposited in, smelling of rotten fish and refuse. 'Why did he have to choose the dumpster behind Nozu?' The boy wondered. They'd agreed on a familiar place, and a dumpster made sense since the odds of being seen popping in were low. But there were other dumpsters they could have chosen, one's that weren't going to stink so much. 'And I was locked in.' He groused.

The locked in part didn't faze him much. He'd already figured out how to use a stone doll to pick the lock. It just took a while, what with his less then perfect magician skills. 'And why is it Jade, who isn't even that interested in being a magician, is so much better at all of that chiz then I am? I mean, is it fair? Noooo, she gets to be an Asgardian princess, strong, mystic, powerful, with all kinds of mad abilities, and a brother with cool super alien tech he's willing to use to give her things like a base, or to power up her best friend. What do I get? I get a grumpy, too cool for school so called best friend who thinks it's funny to dump me in the stinky trash as part of my emergency escape. '

Robbie was now walking down the street, smelling of rotten fish and other thing, while wondering if he'd make it home in time to come up with an alibi for not being there when they called him in for this raid. 'The least he could have done is arrange for me to have a ride home.' The boy thought.

Wazzed off, he got out his phone and called Gerald. 'Yea, I can manipulate rocks, but only cause Rex lets me. Big deal. I can't even take on a couple of toughs without having to out think them.' His inner monologue was interrupted by the sound of the other end picking up. "Gerald, it's Robbie. Yea, you beat me in hamboning. Big deal, Tori beat you. Now I need you to get a car, or something, and come give me a ride."

"Why?" The other boy asked.

"Cause I'm the one with pictures of you and Sarah Miller." Rob said. "You think Suzy's brother, Mark, will understand you stepping out on her?"

"I'll be there shortly." The boy said with a huff.

"And tell your goon, Merl, I haven't forgotten what he did to me." Robbie added. "He should be happy I'm gonna forgive him, cause things could go bad for both of you if I don't get home soon. Now move it."

Less then ten minutes later, Merl, driving Gerald, showed up. "Hey, loser, what with threatening my boy Gerald here?"

"Look, like I told your friend, I have pictures in my possession that could make life very hard for the both of you." The nerdy boy informed them. "Just drive me home, and not one word about how I smell like rotting fish."

"No." Merl said, quickly adding, "We take you someplace where you can get cleaned up, I get you some loaner cloths, then we taker you home."

"Less smell for the car, I suppose." Rob agreed. That when his phone went off. "Excuse me, I have to take this."

The boys sat back and watched as Robbie answered his phone. "Mister Ward, good to know you made it out alive. Everything go the way you hoped it would?"

"What happened?" Grant asked. "The girl, Power Princess, she was actively protecting the others. My data said she'd be aggressive, take the fight to my people, not wait for them to be vulnerable."

"I'm guessing she learned a bit from recent events." Rob assured the Hydra leader. "Sorry I didn't have up to the minute data for your people."

"I'm not mad." Mister Ward said. "We both paid what we'd agreed to, and got what we paid for. The cyborgs, their in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands now. It'll make them think we're actively trying to create cyborgs."

"You're not?" The young mystic asked. "No, wait, our deals done. You don't owe me, or my boss, anything."

"Thats just it." The former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. said. "I owe your boss some serious pain. But you, for all your seeming nerdiness, you've been strait forward with me the whole time, while never giving anything away. Because of that, I'm willing to give you something. What I'm after is revenge on S.H.I.E.L.D. But to get that, I can't let them have a super soldier squad. Finish them for me, and we'll call it even. Hell, if you survive, call me, and maybe I can find a place for you in my organization. I like you, more then most of the people I've recruited."

"I'll consider it." Rob replied. "Good by, mister Ward."

"Good by, Mister Shapiro." Grant said. It was a strange showing of respect for the former level six agent to use his sir name, but Robbie would never know that.

"Okay, we're getting me cleaned up and on the road." Robbie said to Gerald.

On a roof near by, a figure watched the boy speaking to his ride. "Mister Goonter, the boys are taking him to the showers. You gonna approach?" Emily asked. She'd taken to the roof out of concern that Rob, another mystic, could see through her haze.

"Are you sure the boys will help us?" The good spirit asked.

"I gave them fudge balls." She insisted. "Besides, they have no loyalty to HIM!" The voice shot through with a held in rage. "They just want the blackmail to be gone."

"No, Emily, I won't be making contact yet." The good puppet said. "Rex can't punish him for tonight's failure, so what we've done is put a wedge between Hydra and Rex's growing organization. That will hurt Rex's ego, cause him to lash out. When Rob sees how hurtful and mean Rex can be, thats when we'll make our move. We have to let the other spirit weaken himself, from arrogance and vanity, before we do anything."

"Kay kay." The girl replied as the car started moving, windows open, to the near by place where Rob would get cleaned up.

"Don't say that, it doesn't sound that bright." Goonter informed the girl.

Later, as Robbie finished making his report to Rex, the puppet sat quietly, contemplating what it'd heard. "Someone knows." The evil spirit said. "Someone knew we were coming, and since no one bothered to inform you, I have to assume they know."

"I checked my text messages, and I did have one from Andre, saying something about a drill that night." Rob said. "They called it optional. When was I left out of the planning?"

"As soon as they thought you might be a leak." Rex reminded him. "Trina didn't tell Griffin either. They're suspecting everyone not on the front line. I hate to say it, but you were right. You need to do something to get yourself a power suit, so they trust you more."

"Yea, I do." Robbie said. 'Did Sikowitz say something? And if he did, how would that have told them about he meeting? No, it has to be something else.' He took a deep breath. "Let me find out what happened."

Rob decided, since the news would have covered some of the fight, to call the base. Andre was the obvious choice, except the spy was also the most wary. So instead, the young mystic called Trina. "Yo, Trina, I was wondering, what was happening up at that private airport, or have you heard about it? I was thinking that maybe, if someone hasn't all ready, you could pop out and check things out."

"We have Griffin." Rex mocked. "He should be the one asking."

"Yea, we know about that." Trina replied. "Look, Rob, check your phone. Someone was interfering with our communications. Jade was at our place, doing homework, when Andre called on a land line. Beck was at Sinjins, so they had one too. But you were out, and we couldn't get a hold of you."

"Oh!" Robbie said, glancing at Rex. "So you called land lines due to some kind of cellular interference?"

"Wasn't just us either." The older girl continued. "Mal thinks it was some kind of targeted attack, hitting S.H.I.E.L.D. cell phones. You, we'd be included cause they put a descrambler in our phones. Just, check and see if anyone has tried to call you, but ignore your phone logs,"

"Of course people tried to call me." Robbie said. "I got a call not half an hour ago, from my mom."

"And I got one from Griffin." Trina continued. "But Mal said the calls were being blocked, and I think it was due to the chips. Add the right virus, and they would just block one another."

"But I'm calling you now." Robbie clarified.

"Maybe the attacks over?" Trina tried. "Or maybe something else was interfering with the calls. Let me call Mal."

Rob looked confused, but at the same time relieved. "They have their story." He told Rex. "But Trina's the one I heard it from. Let me call Mal, see if that tracks."

Trina, meanwhile, was filling everyone in on her excuse. "Next time, we should stage the cyber attack." Mal said. "Let me call Daisy, see if she can help."

:}

Okay, that was a thing. Reviews will be welcome, and I hope to have something for next week as well. Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 10 Making sense of it all

Disclaimer: Don't own, but I do give credit where credit is do, so don't sue.

:}

Tori was tailing Jade through the school hallways, watching the goths every move. When the pale girl's textbook fell, the Latina raced over at human speeds to pick the book up for her. "What the frappuccino, Vega?" The goth growled as she stepped back to give the other girl space.

"You're hurt." The singer said in a soothing voice. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't pull a still recovering muscle."

Jade leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You know I've fully healed a while ago." It was a low growling, warning the other girl to stop babying her.

"So your okay?" The tanned girl asked.

"Of course." The actress replied.

Tori swept her leg. It was a single quick move, one Andre had tried teaching her as a part of the standard S.H.I.E.L.D. self defense training. A swift single move that sent Jade stumbling backwards into the wall. Tori's arms helped guide the taller girl into the wall, one hand cushioning the head. Once they were in position, the singer functionally trapping the other girl against the wall, Tori leaned in for a kiss.

"What the hell, Veg-muroh." Jade started.

The kiss was hard and passionate, lingering long enough for people to notice. Tori's free hand started wandering, ghosting along the other girls side and upwards to just outside the border between safe for TV and pay cable. The pale hand of the Asgardian grabbed Tori's wandering limb just shy of things getting too intimate. That action helped break the kiss.

"Do you think everyone saw you kissing me?" Jade asked her girlfriend. "I mean, after that effort, you'd want to be sure."

"Maybe we should make an announcement." Tori replied, smirking.

Shrugging her girlfriend off, the pale girl stepped forward and away from the locker to address the school. "For those who missed it, Tori and I are now dating. That means you perves can stop drooling over this ass," she emphasized with a quick slap on the Latina's rear, "and find something else to fantasize about when your home pretending you could get a real girl. Now go."

Tori rubbed her bottom, glaring at her girl. "What the hell, Jay?"

"You said make an announcement." The taller girl said smirking an innocent looking smile.

Tori leaned in and spoke in a soft, low voice. "Just remember, my hand can vibrate, fast." The hand started vibrating as the girl placed it against the others thigh. "And I know the field, at least well enough to score. I'm just saying, sooner or later, I'm getting you off. It's just a matter of when and where. Like, lunch, in the middle of the asphalt cafe?"

"My goodness, is sweet Sally Peaches threatening me with her nimble fingers?" Jade used that mocking Tori voice she often used when she was taunting the Latina. Only this time, her target didn't flinch.

"Just saying, I wanna play nurse to my brave guardian." Tori purred. "And if I have to show the world your, um, happy face, I will."

"I think you'll find I'm not so easy to intimidate." The goth warned.

"Steel hard skin, and yet you have your sensitive areas." Tori's voice remained soft. "I'll bet Beck has some stories. I wonder if I can leave marks. I'd love to try."

Jade was now looking around at the other students, suddenly worried about what they might be hearing. Worse then just her powers, the idea that Tori could talk sex so freely was freaking her out. "Tori, can we discuss this later?"

"Sure." The singer chirped, smiling. "Be at my place after school, ready for some nursing. I wanna play doctor, if thats okay."

Across the hall, her friends had gathered. "So, whats going on over there?" Robbie asked Beck.

The Canadian looked up for only a moment, then returned his gaze to his locker. "Power struggle." He replied without emotion. "Happens in every relationship."

"Think Jade's gonna win?" Robbie wondered aloud. Andre was there too, watching the boys.

"It's not about winning." The handsome boy said. "It's about learning to compromise. Those who win the struggle have a lower chance of a happy relationship. It's the compromise, where neither one feels they've given up their lives, that gets the happiest results."

"Oh!" Rob let out, allowing his mind to drift around that thought.

"Looks to me like their talking about sex." Cat added.

"That can be a part of the struggle, or not." Beck informed his friends. "In this case, I suspect it's the start of a long one that will eventually bring our girls together as a couple."

"You sure it's not foreplay?" Cat asked. "I mean, look at them. Jade's irritated look is reminiscent of the look she gets when she hasn't been laid in a while." Glancing at her friends. "Don't give me that. I may be pure, but I'm her best friend. I know her. Better then you, Beck. Maybe it's part of the power struggle, but this is about sex, pure and simple. Jade's resisting giving in, and Tori's forced to play the aggressor. I just wish they'd stop making it so important. They have time. Let it go."

"And now I'm uncomfortable." Rob said. "Look, about last night. I checked, and found some evidence of a hack. Someone tried to access the local S.H.I.E.L.D. server, and all our phones use it for the daily code downloads. I'm guessing the attack corrupted the descrabler, causing our phones to not recognize each other. But once the hack was fixed, things went back to normal. I understand it was a professional who did the hack. I just worry that they might have more info then we want them to. All out personal data is on that server."

"Only our phone numbers." Andre assured his friend. "We don't think they got anything, just caused the disruption. We're good." Then inwardly he thanked the gods for Daisy and her computer skills. "But while we're talking, I have some personal details to take care of this afternoon. Mind if I skip out on hanging out?"

"But Andre." Cat whined. "We've been training or so long, I wanna just play cards like old times."

"Sorry, but it's something I have to do." He assured his friends. "Something personal."

"Kay kay." Cat chirped.

"So there's life after the power struggle?" The musician asked his friend.

"You might not know, given how few of your relationships get that far..." Beck started, happy to explain to his friend the secrets of dating.

After school, Andre waited for his contact. He was in his street cloths, in a neighborhood that was painfully middle class urban. 'This guys snitch claims to know of the gang that tried to grab the school girl.' He reminded himself. 'Maybe they can get me some kind of lead. I wanna know what was in that van, as well as what plans they had for the girl.'

"Distortion?' A voice asked from right next to him. Since he'd taken to waiting on rooftops, the sudden sound was enough to startle him. Thats when he realized he'd missed the subtle popping sound that she made when she materialized.

"Cheshire, what brings you here?" He asked.

"I have a street source who clams that a guy tapped into the local white slavery ring is gonna be by today." The girl explained. "I promised to get answers."

"Damn!" He swore. "I'm meeting a guy who's got an informant involved with the a crime I'm following up on. Something that happened a couple of days ago."

"Please tell me it's not that guy." Trina pointed to a man in a nice suit.

"He's officer Jones, Vise squad." The agent said, not happy at all. "We thought he was clean."

"Not according to my source." The girl emphasized. "I need to know what he knows. It's for a friend. I do it, they help me make sense of whats going on."

"Robbie stopped a kidnapping, couple of days ago." The musician informed her. "The gang members who did it, they got away. This guys informant is gonna help me find out who they work for."

"Wait, Robbie stopped a kidnapping?' Trina asked. "Like how?"

"Boy has powers." Dre let drop. "Just not strong. He had to be smart, use his abilities to distract and disable. But he did it, and I was so proud. Now I'm worried, cause I think he's our mole."

"My contact says Griffin is a mole too." The older girl said with a deep sense of sadness. "I need to find out if their on they're up and up, so I need to know how deeply this guys involved. I'm going to follow him. You meet him, and then fall back."

"I'll place a tracer on him." Andre said. "If he'd dirty, we'll find out. Just, I don't know, lets see what we can do. I gotta go." The boy dropped from the roof and approached the officer.

The musician moved carefully towards the undercover officer, slowly making his way closer, all the while allowing himself to consider the possibility that the very cop he'd looked up could be involved in the vice trade he was investigating. Officer Jones saw the young man approaching, and slowed down. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"I heard about the kidnapping that happened a couple of days ago." Andre started. "My uncle works as an investigator for an insurance company, doesn't matter which one, just that it represents the school. They asked him to find out what was going on, and he sent me to ask you about a snitch he said you have that knows this chiz." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "My uncle is former S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Well, maybe I do know someone who could help." The police officer said. "Let me call around, see what I can dig up. I assume there's a financial intensive, since I'm dealing with a civilian."

"I'll have to find out." The young man said. "I'm only running down some leads for him so I can make some after school money. I'm buying a car."

"Good for you." Officer Jones said.

"Andre, is that you?" Officer Vega asked. He'd approached from the direction officer Jones was heading in, and thus the boys blind side.

"Mister Vega?" The boy asked, now confused. "What're you doing here."

"Gary, why don't you handle Officer Jones while I take Mister Harris aside." David Vega said to his partner. "Andre, we just need a moment of your time." The older man pulled the boy aside.

"Whats up?" Andre repeated.

That was when half a dozen officers materialized from the surroundings, placing the vice cop under arrest. "We believe that officer Jones here has been moonlighting as a breaker for the local white slavery ring. Helps break the kids and turn them into sex slaves. We have enough to take him in. I'm hoping he'll lead us to his boss. With luck, we might be able to find some of the kids they've sold."

"I just need some info from him." Andre whispered. "The guys who tried kidnapping that school girl, I need to know how to find them."

"I'll see what I can do." The police officer said. "But I doubt he'll be helping us for a while. It takes time to break someone like him. How long you got?"

"Not long." The musician said. "Not long at all." Neither noticed Trina standing in the background with her phone to her ear.

Tori was smiling as she sat in the jacuzzi with her girl. "I'm just amazed that Trina hasn't bothered us with her stories of how hot Griffin is." Her voice broke the silence.

"I'm just glad your mom won't allow us up in your room without a chaperone." The dark haired goth replied.

"What, afraid I might try something?" The tanned girl asked, smirking.

"No, I'm worried I might break you." Jade said, then realized she'd said it out loud. "I-I..."

"Break me?" Tori asked. "Babe, do you do rough stuff when getting freaky?"

"No, but when people get off, they sometimes lose just a touch of control." The Asgardian explained. "Tori, I'm strong enough to rip your arm off without realizing I've done it. I mean, I love you, or think I do. I just want to make sure nothing bad happens."

"And yet you got freaky with Beck, more then once?" The now annoyed girl said in an accusing voice. "What, did he not do it for you? Or maybe you have more control then you're letting on. I don't like excuses."

Jade held up her ring, the one she wore around her neck for years. "This used to contain my powers, make me functionally human." She lectured. "My brother changed mine so it doesn't work that way any more. Now, I'm a fucking wrecking machine who accidentally tossed her alarm through the wall."

"Oh..." Tori looked nervous. "But, we've played rough, just a touch..."

"Never more then I could control." The goth rebuked. "I've called my brother, asked for something, but this is hard to talk about. I don't know how to tell him I'm looking to get laid."

Tori was up and out of the pool, dripping as she walked over to where Jade's stuff was. Wrapping her towl around herself, the singer dried her hands and picked up the phone. "Better be careful. Don't think I can just hop down to the pair store and replace this one." She joked.

"And shorting your phone isn't risking an explosion the size of Nagasaki either." The writer added.

Tori almost dropped the phone, only for her lightning reflexes to catch it and hold it gently as she placed it back on Jade's stuff. "You know I was kidding about the explosion, right?" The other girl asked, chuckling. "That is environmentally sealed, almost indestructible. I just, I don't know, I liked seeing the look on your face..."

Tori snached up the phone and swiped it open. "Password." She said coldly.

"Genetic markings." Jade replied.

"Give me your hand." Tori zipped back to the edge of the pool taking her girlfriends hand and placing the thumb on the screen. The phone opened, and Tori was on the other side of the pool, making a call. "Hello? I'm Jade's current girlfriend, and I just wanted to know, how can I give her a hand job and not risk losing a few fingers?"

"VEGA!" Jade roared, lunging from the hot tub in a spray of water.

"What?" The tanned girl tried to look as innocent as possible. She'd relocated to the other side of the yard, but had to stay alert. Jade could track her.

"We don't have to share everything." Jade said, trying to regain her calm. Water ringed the pool area. 'Good thing Tori's chiz is inside, or under stuff. I still might want to call her later.'

"She's right." The phone said. "I'm the interactive system in her phone, and my data collection tells me that it's not normal to share intimate information with one's siblings. However, I'm also aware that her ring can be used to temperately neutralize part of her powers. You can copulate quite safely."

"Um, Jade, babe, why didn't you mention the operating system?" The singer asked.

"Cause no one bothered to tell me." The writer replied.

"No one bothers to read the manual." The phone added.

Three men stood in front of a desk, looking nervously at each other. The man behind the desk looked peeved. An older man of western European ancestry, the man in charge was unhappy about something. "I'm not saying not to grab talent, and yes, she was one of the girls we were, and are, looking at." He tried to be patient as he explained to his men. To his right, a trained killer stood ready just in case there was to be an end to these men. "The problem was, we were making a delivery. One doesn't just drive fifty caliber HMG ammunition into the city. We delivered multiple boxes, modified to be magnum rounds, along with modified clips to hold that heavy ammo. Do you have any idea how illegal that shipment was. Those were thirty round clips."

"Boss, we were drunk, a little happy, and she looked so cute." The lead thug said, still sporting a bandage wrapped around his knee. "We just wanted to have us some fun, then maybe make a touch of party money."

"We'll, what you did is get the police looking for you." The man in charge said, glancing to his killer. "Now Hydra's pissed. Thats right, the delivery was for Hydra. They're still around, and we're facing the possibility of being on the wrong end of things if they decide to eliminate loose ends. The only reason I haven't had Bruno here cap at least one of you is we need cash, now. So your gonna go to the Filly Ranch and wait. It's armature night. Pick out a few good prospects and pick them up. I know this is much higher profile then we usually go, but we need to be ready to sell and run, ASAP."

"Or, you could just give up now, and save us all the trouble of taking you in." A new voice cut in. "Thing is, the only reason I'm not letting my more violent friends deal with this is you do have information on Hydra, and we want that."

The men moved, as fast as they'd ever moved, but it was too little, too late. Bruno had drawn his gun, only to find himself face to face with Distortion. The trained killer was no match for the trained agent, but the seconds he lasted was a testament to how dangerous the big man was. Meanwhile, Cheshire popped into the midst of the thugs, swinging for the bleachers. The men found themselves hard pressed to keep up with the girl who ripped them apart with long kicks and carefully aimed body shots.

The man behind the desk found himself in the middle of one of those hard decisions he'd spent his entire career preparing for. "Look, I'm not dumb enough to think that I can get away, or that anything I could tell you about Hydra would be of much use. However, I'm willing to deal. I know the names of dozens of street dealers, drugs, and I'm willing to trade." He gave his best smile. "Maybe I should call my lawyer?"

"Street level drug dealers aren't worth crap compared to sex slavery." Trina growled. "No, you want us to talk, and not just lock you up in a black site for helping a terrorist organization, you need to give us a whole lot more then disposable people. Lets start with a list of your clients for the girls."

"Look., Missy, I'm a business man, and to give that kind of information would ruin my reputation." The man said.

"Then give us something real on Hydra." Andre cut in. "You thought they'd send someone to kill you, that makes me think you might have something worth getting killed over. So spill."

"No, cause with all respect, they'll make just getting killed seem like a nice dream. It's not like you could protect me from them, and the client list for the, um, merchandise, that tends to include a fair number of rich and powerful people. I'm in a no win situation. So why don't you play ball, like the police are supposed to, and let me trade a few low lever flunkies for a free pass."

"Cause we're S.H.I.E.L.D" Distortion said in a warning tone. "And we're not playing some sick game. You, your going to jail. Where, thats up to you. No torture, no threats, just a promise. Help the terrorists, and we treat you like one. We have your confession that you helped Hydra, so we own you now. Cheshire, lets take these men to the base for interrogation."

Robbie watched as Officer Vega sized the men up. Having no interrogation specialists available on short notice, they'd asked the LAPD for help, and gotten David Vega. He was both a trained interrogator, and involved with another part of this case, thus making him the ideal choice for this job. They had reason to believe that this crew was the one officer Jones was working with. Having chosen his best starting point, the Vega patriarch entered one of the interrogation rooms. The thug, the one who'd threatened the nerdy boy back in the ally, sat in his chair waiting for the grilling to start.

"Bad news, or worse news?" David asked. "Look. Albert, we can get the kid from the ally to come and identify you, or use the recording of your boss confessing, but the thing is, we don't just want to put you in jail. Thats gonna happen anyways. No, as the play book goes, we want the big fish. I know, they tell you that you don't know anything, but we both know your smarter then that." David paused to let that statement sink it, giving the boy a sympathetic look. "Thing is, S.H.I.E.L.D., thats who I'm working for right now, they want a lot of things. They want us to help them find the kids you've taken and sold off, and they want Hydra."

The Thug no longer looked so tough. He may still have been big, six three and over two twenty, but he was looking so small at that moment. "The thing is, your in deep. Doesn't matter that someone else was giving the orders, your in so deep, and there's only one way for you to help get yourself out of this mess. I'm not saying your gonna just walk out of here, but if we work together, you give me everything, then maybe I can help you have a future. What do you say? Need time to think? Maybe a lawyer? Their great for helping out, except we have you cold. So think, talk to a lawyer, whatever, but the way out of this, for you, involves telling us everything."

"They're gonna break." Robbie said to Rex.

"So we kill em." Rex replied.

"No, they don't know anything that can hurt us." The puppeteer replied, watching the thug intently. "Mister Vega is playing them, but he's telling them the truth. He's going to help them make a deal, by helping them figure out what they have to deal with."

"Isn't he support to say something like 'the first one who talks gets the deal' or chiz like that?" The animated puppet asked.

"No, cause he's gonna need them all if their boss doesn't break." The jewfro boy said, adding "And he won't. No, the boss knows how dangerous their clients can be. But the thugs, Albert there, they know enough to get a warrant, and that leads to the information the police want. And when they break, he'll get everything."

"So thats why your watching?" Rex wondered aloud. "To see Officer Vega, Tori's dad, break someone? Believe me, when we take over, he won't be able to do nothing about whatever you do for me. We're just a little behind schedule, and we're catching up. I'm moving Griffin to take Trina someplace where we can capture her. Then, we use her to capture Tori. Those two are the leverage we need to get Jade out of the way. Cat, I think we can turn her, using her feelings for, um, a guy I know. That just leaves the guys. Dre's gotta go. He's too trained, too good. But Beck, I think, maybe… Naahh, we don't want looks Magee around unless it's to tempt Courtney with. Thing is, we have the means now. I just need the where and when, and things will go down. Soon, this city, the whole world, will be mine, and then we can make that smug Grant Ward pay for giving me so much attitude."

'You don't like him." Rob smirked as he glanced at his other half.

"He's dangerous, a loose cannon bent on revenge." The ancient evil spirit said. "Besides, I want to get him, tie him up, and see how long he lasts under some sever torture. And let me tell you, when that happens, you'll see someone break. He'll tell us everything."

The puppet started to head back to their shared room, but hesitated. "And Rob, they shouldn't worry so much about a few kids who've been enslaved. Once I'm in charge, it's gonna be a much more common condition."

:}

So that was a nice follow up on what been going on. Just a little filler to link things together. Hope you enjoyed it, and are starting to see where things will Lead.

So review, and that kind of feedback chiz, cause why now.


	11. Chapter 11 Countdown to betrayel

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Victorious, agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any show for that matter. I do enjoy seeing what if, however. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

:}

Jade was sitting on the Vega's couch, wondering once again how she'd ever agreed to this. "You're using black polish, right?" She asked her girlfriend.

"Yep." Tori agreed, then hesitated. "You know, you should consider using the same color as your extensions. That would make things kinda match."

"First, I change my extensions regularly enough that I don't want one color. Black goes with everything, and gives the impression I want." The goth princess said, looking peeved. "Second, these are my chizzing toes."

"Hay, you agreed." The Latina chided her. "Now hold still. This is very delicate."

"You're enjoying yourself." The pale girl growled.

"Maaaybe." The other girl chirped. "But I'm allowed to enjoy painting my girlfriends nails, or kissing her on her cheek, or maybe touching her..."

"VEGA!" The blue eyed girl barked. "Concentrate on what you're doing. And I'll decide if there's gonna be any touching."

"You're no fun." The tanned girl moaned, but her smile broke though and she couldn't help but do a little happy dance at being allowed to do something so intimate with her girl.

"Geez Vega, their just toes." The other girl tried to downplay what was happening. But The taller girl didn't often paint her nails, so letting anyone paint her toenails was a major thing.

Trina walked through the living room, noting what the girls were doing. "Get a room." She said, trying not to smirk. 'Pity Griffin's probably working for the bad guys, cause I could really, REALLY go for someone pampering me like that right now.'

The older Inhuman could hear her sister arguing with her girlfriend, and wondered once again about the sacrifices she was making. 'First really hot guy totally interested in me, and he turns out to be a user. Whats wrong with this me?' The thoughts turned from dark to strange as a realization this. 'Tori only dated losers and users until she hooked up with Jade. Not that she's that much better, but at least she tries to protect her friends. Does this mean I'm only gonna be happy with a chick, cause I'm fairly sure Cat's about to have Robbie's kid.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a call. Caller ID was from an unfamiliar phone, so the Latina considered ignoring it. However, the call was coming from the 206 area code, not one found in the L.A. basin. 'I'd love to look up where this is.' She thought as she let the call go to voice mail. Moments later, the icon came up letting her know she had a message. Trina decided to listen just to rule out the possibility it was a sales call.

"Hi, you don't know me, but I'm Cat's roommate, Samantha Puckett." The voice paused. "Yes, that Sam, the one from iCarly. Anyways, I heard you were dating Griffin, from Seattle. I just wanted to let you know Carly dated him for a while. He's not what he appears to be. Totally into Pee Wee Babies. As in collects them. I know he may seem to be into you, but from what I could tell, nothing is as important to him as those Pee Wee Babies. Call me, and we can compare notes."

Trina didn't bother to call, instead just popping over to near where that number was. 'No sense in giving this girl a heart attack.' The Inhuman decided. It didn't take her long to realize she was near where Cat was supposed to be staying, just outside what she'd been told was the redheads apartment. Taking a risk, she rang Cat's doorbell.

"Ding Dong." Someone said from inside.

'Please don't let that be Cat.' Trina prayed. Then the door opened and Sam was standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm Trina Vega." The older girl said. "I got your message while, um, running an errand in this neighborhood, and decided to drop by to talk. What can you tell me about Griffin?"

"Not much more then I told you." The blond said. "But there is one thing I should warn you about. Come in, cause I don't like talking about this without ham."

With that, Sam ushered the other girl into the apartment, where she could see Cat playing with a couple of kids. "Cat,. Why don't you take Billy and Mandy to the bedroom and play a game." The webstar said.

"Kaykay." The redhead chirped, leading the kids into the next room..

"Okay, lets start with the basics. I don't know how much you know, but Cat, and our friend Jade, they have a few secrets..." The tough girl started.

"I kinda know." The other girl cut in. "I'm not gonna go into details, but I know Cat and Jade have a strange bond, one that gives them both a lot of strength. Like toss a car strength."

"Cat's that strong?" The former bad girl asked, now wondering how much she really knew.

"Probably not. I mean, she can lift a car, but wouldn't be able to toss it that far." Trina assured her. "Look, I'm not dancing around the subject all night. Cat and I, we're both members of the Champions, and I need to know if Griffin is a threat to us."

"Not as far as I know." Sam replied. "But he' not the guy you think he is. I doubt he's really into you, cause he wasn't that into Carly back when he was with her. And, given his obsession with Pee Wee Babies, I'd say he was buy-able. Look, I got my man, Fredward, to do a search, and someone's been bidding on some of the rare once lately. Someone from L.A. May not mean anything, but when your roommate is a super, you tend to watch out for these kinds of things. Sorry if this ruins your image of him."

"No, you just confirmed what I already heard from another source." The now sad Latina softly said. She was hurting, thinking about how he manipulated her.

"You know, he could still have feelings for you." Sam tried to cheer her up. "Maybe he found he liked the real you, and decided to turn his back on whatever bad boy ways he used to have. And, and maybe he got himself a good paying job and is earning the cash to buy the collectables. I understand they increase in value at fairly consistent rate."

"Except they don't." The older girl corrected her. "They can, and many do, but the collectables that were one a craze may wind up not being worth nearly as much as what they cost the person who bought the super rare one during the craze."

"You've studied that chiz?" The blond asked.

"Common sense." The brunet replied. "Look, thanks for the info. I'm gonna go home now and drown my sorrows in ice cream. That is, if my sister is done pampering her stupid girlfriend."

"I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt here, and assume your jealous of her being with someone." The Seattle transfer suggested.

Trina looked embarrassed at what she realized she's inadvertently said. "You're right. Sorry to offend. It's just, Jade hated her for so long, and now their practically..."

"Jade?" The other girl cut her off. "Jade West? Scary, morbid, dresses in black Jade West?"

"Cat's best friend since forever." The Latina confirmed. "Oh, thats right. You two have probably met."

"I know a bit about her." Sam acknowledged. "We've hung out a few times. We have a lot of common interests. And it can be real fun to watch her intimidate kids. She's gay? I knew about the strength chiz, but I thought she was dating some guy named Beck."

"She was." The inhuman confirmed. "And now she's dating my sister."

"I feel for you." Sam offered some small comfort.

"Can I come out now?" Cat asked, peeking out from the bedroom. She was covered in silly string.

Griffin was sitting in his Pee Wee Baby room, looking over his collection. His phone was on speaker so he could adjust the shelves as he decided which ones he wanted where. "So, I draw her out, and we take her? Sounds like a plan. I've got the thing you gave me, and I'll be expecting your backup when it goes down. Just one thing, thought. When things are over, am I gonna still be dating her?"

"Probably not." Rex replied. "I'm hoping we can turn her, but if not, we may have to kill her."

"Pity. She has a nice rack." The bad boy said. "Soft too. Man, I just wish I had the chance to..."

"I totally get that." Rex cut him off. "Look, if we can turn her, maybe I'll let you two stay together. I'm sure she'll be the kind of girl you want, docile and obedient."

"And a freak in the bed." The human added.

"Whatever." The evil puppet waved the thought off. "The point is, things are going down, and soon. I've got Rob arranging for a Faraday cage with additional blockers to keep her from escaping. She's still tough, so we'll need to take her by surprise. But I'm predicting we get her, and use her to get her sister."

"She's cute too." The collector cut in. "Can I have them both. One for the boobs, the other for the ass."

"No!" Rex barked. "Tori is needed for us to get Jade. And Jade's powerful. If things go as planned, then Jade becomes a potent weapon we can use. And if not, I've been working on ways to kill her, Tori, and everyone near them. Even had a successful test run. Now, once I get you the address, you call Trina and have her meet you there. We get her into the cage, and proceed from there. And I know you don't have any question."

"Nope, I'm good." Griffin replied, smiling. "I'm gonna have them all."

Andre was talking to Goonter. "He wasn't at the airport with Grant, but we covered." The agent said, glancing around. Down the road a bit, he saw some people he'd met before, but he just couldn't place where.

"He was at the airport." The good puppet explained. "He just had an escape readied. I expect Rex to have such precautions readied as well. His influence over Robbie, and his magics, worries me. But neither of us can live without Rob, so humiliation is the best that fiend can get away with. But things are different now. I'm certain they want to turn Jade, and that gives us the opening to unravel their whole organization. As you probably know by now, Trina has agreed to be my friend Emily's champion in this matter."

"She's..." The musician tried to make sense of what he'd just heard. In the back of his mind, he was watching the two boys down the road a bit. They were discussing fudge balls with a sunshine girl, and that was enough to distract he trained agent. 'I hope they're not harassing her.' He thought. But the girl seemed calm, at ease, and the boys were on their best behavior. "Trina's contact, the one who helped us find the slavers, is working with you?" The question was said while looking at the boys, trying to figure out where he knew them from. 'If only I could place…' For a moment, recognition filled his eyes. "Gerald! And Merl!"

"Robbie's blackmailing them." Goonter said calmly. "We found out about the potential, and when they got the call, we stepped in and told them we'd help. Emily is my voice in such matters. It's easier for them to believe a young girl is the spokesperson for some authority figure then to deal with a living puppet. I expect they'll be happy to know that Rob doesn't want to use them for anything else. However, both boys have agreed to try to befriend him, getr closer to him, so we can get a better idea of their plans."

"Too late." Andre said, now watching the young blond girl. "I'm guessing whatever's happening is going down soon. After we took down Grants cyborgs, their was a lack of reaction from Rex's camp. I'd have expected some kind of rumbling on the streets, someone trying to get new resources. That means that Rex has the resources he wants."

"No, they need a resource, Jade." Goonter restated. "Jade's the one thing Rex is aware could hurt him. Jade can kill him, and that fills him with a dread so deep that he'll do anything to feel safe. You've seen how the rock men Rob uses are? Their just bodies he can shift, shape and reform. Destroy one, and he can reform it as long as he has the energy left to do so. These bodies we're in are similar. Our spirits are what matters. We can repair the body we are in, or move to another body later on. Think about it. Was Rex always the same puppet? Or did he shift, change, as Robbie got used to the idea of what he should look like? I'm betting that's not the original puppet Rex inhabited. We're bound to the body we're given, but we can be moved, and Rob can fix what's been done to us."

"Then how is Jade so dangerous to Rex?" Dre asked, now ready to learn more. "Or is it that she'd rip Robbie's arms off if she thought he was looking down her shirt?"

"Jade is an Asgardian, at least partially, and whatever mixed with her seemed to enhance several aspects of her abilities." The good puppet answered. "But the one we're concerned with it that Jade's mystic in nature. She carries a mystic charge withing and around her that affects everything she does. Her blows hurt bound spirits like us, making the damage done to the body reflected on the damage done to the spirit. If she just ripped Rex's head off, he'd die. That scares him more then anything. To bad, cause I have a fate worse then death planned for him."

"So he needs to get rid of Jade." The agent said. "But he's planning on turning her. That means he's either realized your out there, or somethings changed."

"Something has." Goonter replied. "Tori Vega. Jade's in love with her, and Rex sees her as the key to turning Jade. But he forgot one thing. To get to Tori, he's planning on using Trina. And we've already put contingencies in play to deal with that."

"So if he does try to take Trina…?" Andre prompted a response.

"Trina will probably be taken quickly, so we have started to put people close to Rob, on the assumption that he'll tell them, or recruit them, and we'll know what he's planning." The protector spirit explained. "We just need help to fill in one more contingency. Emily has tried to contact the appropriate people, but so far, we've had little success."

"I'll make sure Jade and Tori know whats going on." Andre told his new friend. "I'll just have to be careful, cause Jade's likely to find Rex and rip his head off."

Beck sat in his trailer, playing some video-game he never really liked with Sinjin. "Man, I can't believe the selection you have." The lanky inventor commented.

"Jade loved to play." The Canadian replied. "When we broke up, all the games my dad bought me kinda just sat here. I offered to give the system to Tori, but Trina told me they'd be playing other games for a while yet." He sounded sad.

"You miss Jade, don't you?" His friend tried to be supportive. "I get it, she's so pretty, and smart, and she's good at so much..."

"And if I managed to get her off, she's crush me with her legs." The handsome boy cut in. "Sorry, thats not fare. We had our problems before either of us… Well, before I became a hero. But even when she was plane old Jade, she still almost crushed me once. Girls strong."

"I'm not sure how to respond to this." The nerdy boy said. "Look, I know Courtney would love to be your next girlfriend, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of her dating a friend. Things could get awkward."

"I appreciate that." Beck said. "Let me see if I have a racing game in here. Something closer to our need for speed."

"Those leave me cold." Sinjin dropped casually. "I was thinking about our problems, and I think I have a solution. Not for all of them, but for two. For the Robbie problem, I was thinking of tuning a couple of wristbands to the electromagnetic fields of the earth, kinda like I did with you, only instead of using them to give a whole host of powers, they'd make a form of exoskeleton. Then the wearer could protect himself with a force field, fly, even project bolts of energy. If I added the right filters, he could dance up and down the electromagnetic field. I'd have to come up with an alternative energy source, but I'm sure we could make something. Keep him safe and give him the ability to tap into whatever resources you need to keep an eye on the battlefield."

"Robbie may be the mastermind behind some of the strange occurrences we've been encountering." The Canadian hero said.

"Okay, then the other problem is Trina and the idea that she may be dating a mole." Sinjin continued. "Wait, Robbie as a mastermind? I just don't see it."

"We think that Rex is some kind of malevolent spirit, and he's manipulating Robbie." The tanned boy explained. "Or at least, thats what Andre told me."

"Oh, then that makes sense." The lanky boy continued. "I was thinking of romancing Trina myself. However, and this is important, if we both feel you and Courtney would be uncomfortable, then maybe you could try romancing her too."

"I don't know." Beck pondered. "Then again, becoming a hero has helped her overcome a lot of that desperate feeling she has. Not so needy, in her own way. I mean, she's still high maintenance."

"Like Jade, but less, um, psychotic." The other boy took advantage of the long pause.

"True that." The heartthob agreed.

"But that made her hot, in a dangerous, please don't hurt me kind of way." The nerdy boy continued.

"Thats also true." Beck agreed. "The point?"

"Yea, I had one, didn't I..." The tall boy seemed confused for a second. "Oh yea, Jade's with Tori now, and she's totally different. As a girlfriend, I mean. And we've seen Trina be a bit, um, not more responsible, just different."

"She's an innovative fighter who makes the best of her abilities." The tanned boy pointed out. "And she's a team player. Saved more then one of us in a pinch. Also, she's stayed loyal to this Griffin, even risking her identity to show him she cared." For several seconds, both were silent. "Tell you what. You take your shot, and if that doesn't pan out, I'll consider dating her. I think me and Courtney don't have that much in common."

"I just wish she'd be interested in someone who wasn't one of my friends." Sinjin said while focusing on the game. "And as for Trina, may the best man win."

Beck smiled, enjoying the moment. He and Sinjin were surprisingly good friends. "Maybe not." The actor said. "You have to remember, I'm in this contest too."

Jade sat there, on the edge of her bed, looking at the black nail polish that adorned her toes. 'It does look good, but kinda bland. Maybe next time I go blood red?' She mused. But the whole evening spent allowing Tori to paint her toenails was etched in her mind, far more intimate then anything she'd done with Beck.

"Sooo, whatcha thinking?" Her mother asked, surprising her. Jade jumped, but didn't bother asking how the older woman had gotten into her room.

"That my girlfriend painted my toenails." The princess replied, watching her feet. "Why is this such a big deal? I mean, we pay people in shops to pain our nails, so it's not like it's that personal."

"The salons make it a big deal." Her mother replied. "Atmosphere, maybe a manicure, and then the polish. Plus polite people tip their stylist. But to have someone we're involved with do it, it's sensual, intimate, a showing of trust. Some people think that a foot massage and painting of the nails is more intimate then sex."

"Okay, she did kinda massage my feet." The goth admitted. "But that doesn't give you permission to reference 'Pulp Fiction'. I mean, how would you know?"

"I've had thousands of lovers, in multiple forms. Many of them were humanoid enough to have feet like I do now. Especially the Kree. And let me tell you, a good foot massage and I'm willing to give it up right there. It's why I had to stop seeing Foon Yee at the salon. She was threatening my marriage."

"Have you ever been with a girl?" Jade asked, now very serious. She gave her mother her total attention, listening for whatever insights might be gleamed from the next few moments.

"I've experimented." Ann, her mother, said. "I've dated girls, even tried being a man. It didn't work out."

"You always saw yourself as female?" The daughter wondered.

"That, and as it turns out, I wasn't able to father children. I do so love my children, even if it breaks my heart every time one dies. But I don't have to worry about that with You or Nari. You'll both live for thousands of years." The mother commented. "Assuming you don't do something stupid and get yourself killed."

"Tori pained my nails." Jade said, showing her mother.

"Before you've slept together? That hussy." Ann joked. "It's not that big a thing. That is, unless it is?" She looked in her daughter's blue green eyes. "And it was. Geeze, maybe you should have nailed her."

"MOM, LANGUAGE!" The younger girl protested.

"Relax, your brother's in bed, sleeping." The ancient entity said. "And Richard knows I can have a raunchy sense of humor. But things are progressing quickly. I mean, after she nursed you back to health..."

"Which took maybe a couple of hours." The goth cut in.

"Too short a time for a sponge bath." Ann said, smirking at her daughters embarrassment. "But after the near death experiences you've had, I'm not surprised she might be a little protective of you. Let her know you appreciate it, but can take care of yourself. And, once this whole mole thing is over, let her show you how much she cares."

"Other mothers don't encourage their children to have sex." Jade said, smirking.

"Wow, apparently I'm not like other mothers." Ann said, looking at the wall. "Sweetheart, I've mothered children with men younger then you are now. That is for their species. Spent a decade among a species that only lived twenty years. That was a mood killer. They died off so fast..."

"Thanks mom," The goth said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, "You always know just what to say."

A couple of days later, Trina got a call from Griffin. "Babe, I just found something wild. Why don't you pop over to where I am so I can show you. It's kinda cool, in a sciency kind of way."

Trina responded with a call of her own, letting her man know she'd be there soon, and for him to get out of sight. Once he let her know he'd done that, she popped in and walked over to see him. "This way. You'll never believe what I found in this old building."

"Where are we anyways?" The Latina asked. "I'm not familiar with this part of the city."

"Sand Diego." The handsome boy replied. He was leading her into what seemed like and old warehouse. "This place isn't like most warehouses. It's a bunch of small spaces that people would rent to warehouse their stuff. I originally thought there would be like tunnels from Mexico in here, but apparently it's too far even for the drug dealers."

"So thats why you were exploring here?" The Inhuman asked, not sure she liked the dark, closed in place.

"Yea." He said with an almost distant voice. "In here. The place looks deserted, but it's still being used. Rented out. Of course, most of the people who use it are looking for a place to temporally store whatever as they jog over to Mexico or back. Not a lot of call for long term storage here when modern storage places are available with better security. Place is usually fairly deserted." They'd reached a decent sized room, maybe twenty by twenty. Only the room was mostly filled with a large, circular construction of metal mesh and wires, eighteen foot diameter. The door to this "Room" was open. "Go in. It's in this strange room. The shape has something to do with containing this thing."

Trina felt uneasy with the request, even as she noticed the odd markings and runes that decorated the strange construction. But she walked into the room, and through the door. As soon as she did, four men emerged from the space directly across from this one and rushed in after them, slamming the door to the odd circular room closed. The men seemed to threaten Griffin, so Trina leaped to his defense. But as soon as she got to him and tried to pop out, she found she didn't move.

"Sorry babe, but orders say you stay." Griffin told her. Then to the men. "Minimum force. I want her as intact as possible. If your nice, I'll get you something, or someone, later."

The men advanced on Trina, each shifting slightly. She'd seen some of these changes before, as they assumed animal like forms and abilities. Griffin just smiled in the background. "Griffin, whats happening? Why are you doing this?" The hero asked.

"Cause your friends are all busy, so they won't notice you missing for a while. And by the time they do, you're sister will be the next to fall into our hands." He said, smiling. "Rex sends his regards."

:}

Don't you love a cliffhanger? What will Trina do now? How will they save her? What is a Faraday cage? (A structure that blocks radio waves and electricity from passing through.) And will Jade look good with black toenails? The answer to these questions, and maybe the chance to see what I forgot, will be discussed in the next exciting chapter.

So, thoughts? review, and let me know.


	12. Chapter 12 Resolutions

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Warning; This is the last chapter of this arc. Not sure if there will be another.

:}

Tori raced through the streets towards her distant destination. At her speed, it would only take her a little under a third of an hour to get to her destination. Functionally forever for her to think about what might have happened to her sister. The wind rushed past her as she powered her way towards San Diego, and the warehouse she'd been told her sister was trapped in All the while worry ate at her mind. 'They have Trina. They can hold her. And their watching Jade, and the others. If I tried to get help, they'd hurt her. Only chance I have is to rush over there and rescue her myself. Only a little while longer and I'm there. Just a little longer. Can't let myself…'

Tori had been repeating that mantra since she started, and the fatigue that the long trip built up dissipated quickly in her enhanced system.. She didn't want to think about the call she'd gotten from Trina's cell phone, the strange voice telling her the clock was ticking, and what they would do to her sister if she tried to alert the others. The girl raced towards what she knew was a trap, trying to guess at what she'd have to do to rescue her sister. 'Trina, I'm gonna rescue you, just like you did for me.' She repeated to herself. A solemn vow.

The building she was looking for came into view, and the speedster raced up to the roof and through the roof access door. The minor amount of surprise it was going to give her, she hoped, would be enough. Soon, she reached the room in the basement, the one she'd been told held Trina, and found her sister locked in a small room made of steel mesh. Ripping the door open, the young Latina raced in to grab her sister and then race out.

The trap was built based on two illusions. One was the cell, a construct made of force. The second was Trina, who was hologram, the original sitting in a different room. Once Tori yanked the door open, the force generators, similar to the ones used to contain Grant Ward when he was in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, hummed to life, trapping the young hero in the room she'd raced too. Thick reenforced cement, further enhanced with energy screens, lined the walls, preventing her from just digging her way to freedom, while cell phone blocker kept her from calling for help.

"Tori, good to see you." Rex's voice chipped in. His voice was coming from a large flat screen hung on a wall on the other side of the force cage. The screen had been hidden by a retracting panel. "Sorry you and your sister are gonna miss the big fight, but don't worry. We have a special gift for you. You see, I needed to draw Jade, your girlfriend, off someplace. Right now, she thinks she's heading out to rescue you, but really I'm sending her to a trap, out at sea. With luck, she'll die trying to get you out. If not, then I can use you as a bargaining chip. It's one of the reasons your still alive."

"Where's Trina?" The singer demanded.

"Someplace else." The puppet replied. "If you're good, then maybe the worst she'll experience is knowing that Griffin was working for me. But then again, he might be sharing her with his thugs. I don't know, and if I'm honest, I don't care."

Her screams filled the air, despair filling her and tore what little hope she had apart. Then the large screen shifted, losing the image of the demented puppet and instead showing a map, tracking the Goth princess's movement. They both knew the Asgardian hybrid could fly at super sonic speeds, fast enough to be in another country in just a few hours. But the map showed the girl was flying towards one of the volcanic atolls in the pacific. 'She's being drawn away, and he said it's a trap. But even if he takes her out, he still has to deal with Beck, Cat, and Andre. But two of them are heavy hitters. What is Rex thinking?' She didn't want to think about the possibility that her love was about to die.

A noise caught her attention, off to the side. 'Someone's coming…'

The world flew past Jade. Flying at just over the speed of sound, the world was now more a blur then anything else. But the flight was necessary. She had to cover over two hundred and fifty mils in such a short time. The goth was burning her life force for extra speed. 'Tori, I'm coming. Stay strong, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll get you out of there. Just, stay alive.' Fear was eating at her. She wasn't sure she could lose another person close to her, not someone she loved. Not so soon after her father…

To her enhanced senses, the small island was growing in the distance. It seemed to be nothing more then a rock jetting up from the ocean, but underneath the lava was hot. Gasses boiled up from the center of the earth, adding to the growing pressure the rock was holding in. There was the ever present threat of eruption. 'Just a little farther.'

The goth knew exactly where she was going. Tori's hurried message had been traceable. Trina was down, and they were in a small cave near the dormant mouth of the volcano. Jade just had to get to them and get them out before things went from threatening to dangerous. 'Even if the volcano doesn't erupt for years, the gasses and heat buildup could fry them. I have to get there before they succumb.' She reminded herself again. It was why she didn't bring Cat. She was the only one who could fly that fast.

The real island, as opposed to the image she'd held in her mind the entire flight, grew like a weed to her vision. The pale girl had to slow down to avoid overshooting it, flying around at what felt like a painfully slow rate until she found the cave. The metal lining much of the atoll blocked her from getting more of a clear image of the sisters, but she knew where they were. With a quick turn, she landed at the mouth and made her way in on foot. Infinitely slower, but far safer.

Jade walked into the room where Tori said they'd landed after the disrupted jump, to find herself near a pit. Down the pit a bit was a bomb. "Jade, I told Rob we'd turn you, give us the power to take over. But the truth is, no matter what I hold over you, you'd always be a threat. It was just easier this way." The demented puppets voice cut through from hidden speakers. "Look, I'll take care of Tori, and your brother. They'll be safe. Just… It had to be this way." Rex sounded sincere, almost remorseful..

A moment later, the bomb was set off. There was a flash of light, and the world exploded.

Cat walked into the Native American casino, wondering if she was in the right place. But the message said to come here, and her contact would meet with her. "Cat?" A handsome boy asked. "Hi, I'm Ethan. I can't believe we're finally meeting face to face. I do wonder why you insisted on meeting all the way out here. But then I found out about the wholesome entertainment they have here, and realized your like me, except you could see past the gambling to see the fine family friendly entertainment they have at this resort." He was five nine, with auburn hair worn in a business cut, deep hazel eyes, and a lightly tanned complexion that hid his freckles. The cloths were nice, screaming date.

"Hi Ethan." The redhead giggled. "Um, not that I don't like you or anything, but I can't remember, um, you."

"You sent me emails," He replied. "Ever since we met up on that teen dating website, Teens Choice? You even invited me to follow you on this website called 'The slap.' Gave me a chance to see your friends."

"That does sound like me." Cat mused aloud. "I suppose I could give you a little time. I was hoping for someone else, but he's a good friend, and I don't want to mess that up. Only I do. But you're cute, so why don't I stop talking, and you can tell me everything I must have forgotten about you. And I can cook, FYI. Just thought you might want to know that."

"Okay." The boy said, not that put off by her verbal wavering. "Lets go over to the restaurant and get something to eat. Then, after we've talked, maybe we could play a round of baby golf, or try one of the other family friendly activities they have here." He led her towards one of the restaurants. "I'm deeply into Fox news, so I was elated when I found out they were your favorite way of learning about the world too." He started.

"Where is everybody?" Andre asked Beck as the two paced around their base's lounge. "Cat, Jade, both Tori and Trina, where are they?"

"I'm not as good with this equipment as Robbie is, so I can't seem to trace their positions.." Beck complained, holding her cell phone. "And Sinjins disappeared. Last I heard, he was five minutes out, and that was ten minutes ago."

"I don't like this." The musician said. "Call Mal, let him know we may have a problem. Have them get on the radio, call the big boys up and get some of the best agents over here. Daisy, or May, or maybe Fitz."

"Or maybe no one." A familiar voice said. "I didn't expect him to move so quickly. Rex has sent your teammates of into traps. We may already be too late." Goonter stood there in the doorway, in all his puppet glory.

Beck tried to react, but the stunning fact that a puppet was standing there under it's own power, talking to them, was too much for him. He tried to process what was going on, and ran out of time as the split second he had was taken up by another.

"Oh, you already are." Rex's voice cut in from the loudspeakers. "Hello, Goonter is it? I should have known you'd use that time I was gone, when he sold me, to dig your way out of his subconscious. But guess what, Bitch. Your far too late. By now, Jade's either dead, or wishing she were, while both the Vega sisters are my prisoners. Since I kinda liked Tori, I promised Jade I'd watch out for her. But thats only as long as she does as I tell her too. No, the big surprise was Rob. He actually was listening to those fools you sent. The hambone guy and his flunky. I couldn't be sure of who's side he was on, so I took action. I just with I could have gotten your stooges, but as long as Robbie's alive and in good heath, I don't need his cooperation any more. His power? He gave that up a long time ago."

"What did you do to him?" The other puppet demanded, anger burning in his eyes.

"Nothing, yet. But it did cost him his chance with Cat. I set her up a dating profile on that website, 'Teen Choice', and then I made contact with a couple of promising boys. Cat's off on a date, totally unaware she's losing her friends." The evil puppet explained.

"You, fiend?" Dre tried to sound upset.

"Oh, to you, I am. I just let one of my friends die. Then, there's the fact that I'm gonna kill you two. I know, Beck's one of our big guns. But I know how his power feed works. I had him drugged with something I whipped up that interferes with the body's magnetic fields. It wasn't hard to pay some bimbo to do it while flirting with him. Turns out rejecting her was as good a distraction as looking at her tits. And as for making something to interfere, the 'what not to eat before an MRI' guide was very helpful in that. Just add magic. So tell me, Beck, you feeling drained?" The mocking voice of the dark puppet echoed through the room.

"I'm still here." Andre warned. "And you have enhanced thugs here to take me out, don't you?" His voice fell a notch.

"What, you think I'm stupid? Of course I do. Then I'm taking the one's I want, the Van Cleefs, and Sikowitz, and forcing them to work for me. You, I'm afraid you gotta die. Join Jade on the other side. Beck, if you beg for mercy, I'll be willing to have you be one of my servants, maybe get you another piece of ass to play with. I kinda promised Trina to Griffin, but Tori's single."

As Rex spoke, over a dozen men walked in. They were not just thugs, but former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, former members of Hydra, who'd needed shelter in the storm. When Grant went about recruiting, telling people they had to prove their worth to the organization, Rex recruited with the promise of protecting them from the dangerous former level six agent. While negotiating with Mister Ward, he was also using Robbie's magics to find the agents who failed the tests Ward put them through, yet still were loyal men or women who'd be of use to him. Then, using talisman like the one's he'd given out before, complete with the geas to obey him, he gave each of them power. However, Even now, enhanced, they still weren't really a match for the strongest members. But these men were a match for two normal boys.

"So you planned around my influences, did you?" The good puppet asked. "Too bad you didn't plan around the resources I had at my disposal."

"You mean the Sunshine girl you've been teaching magic too?" The evil puppet replied. "I had her picked up just a little while ago. Brought her here along with her fudge balls. I'm gonna enjoy making her watch as I find a way to destroy you, then I'm gonna do something truly bad to her. You had to try to make a threat out of her, didn't you. And they call me evil."

The fight started so quickly neither of the boys knew what to think. Distortion was fighting defensively, protecting his teammate while looking for anything that could give them an advantage. There wasn't much. The former agents knew enough not to toy with their prey, and soon separated the two young heroes. One of them used his enhanced beast strength and reflexes to hurl Beck into a side room while another gathered the lightning for a fatal shock. The lights seemed to flash brighter for just a second….

Then Cat was standing there, in front of him, her field deflecting the incoming electric jolt. The force of the bolt seemed to stagger her a bit, but her force field held. "Don't know if I can do that again." She told her friend. "So you'd better do something quick."

"I have him." A young blond girl, maybe ten years old, said as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Now relax, let me draw the poison out of your blood, and restore your true might." Like Cat, she seemed to have just appeared.

"How'd..." Rex stammered over the intercom.

Earlier, at the Faraday Cage, Griffin sneered at the pretty Latina. "You were so quick to offer me everything. Thing is, while I do kinda like you, you weren't the type I'd normally talk too. Too desperate for love. All you'd have been good for was a quick fuck. But I do want you to know, I do kinda like you. I'm just not interested in being exclusive."

"Griffin, I'm sorry you turned out to be one of the bad guys." Trina said, feeling the betrayal. "And I'm more sorry that it's come to this." She took a defensive stance. The four thugs, in their animalistic aspects, seemed amused that she was going to try and fight.

"You know you can't teleport, right?" Griffin asked. "As long as the doors closed, you have no escape. So if your going to fight, I can't take responsibility to what my friends do to you. Too bad, cause if you make them angry, I might not be able to control them when your sister gets her."

"What are you going to do with her?" Trina asked.

"She's just a step in our plan to get Power Princess. But enough talk." The bad boy grew serious. "No stalling. Right now, we're just waiting for your sister, and I'm guessing we have about ten minutes to kill. So why don't you shut up, and maybe we can talk about how my Pee Wee babies are so cool. If your nice, I may even have then outside when I reward you with what you've been asking for. That is, if you still want to giver me all your loving. But if you fight, my boys will fight back, and I'm just saying that killing you would probably be the best possible outcome. For you, not your sister."

"Or, you're boys may have bitten off more then they can handle." Another voice said from the doorway. The now open doorway, thanks to the door having been ripped off it's hinges by the newcomer. He voice took on a dangerous edge. "Call me Rumble."

Griffin was struck by something familiar with the five foot two blond girl with the nice chest. Not sure what to do at first, he did the only thing he could, he told his boys to take her. "If you wanna have fun with someone someone, try the newcomer." He called out. He also activated his talisman.

The fight was more one sided then the bad boy would ever have liked. The new girl was a street fighter with a lot of wresting moves. Her strength and resilience meant his guys had to hit hard, repeatedly, to make her feel it. But as an experienced brawler, she was able to make them pay for every shot they got through her guard, as well as many that didn't.

Making things worse was Trina simply ran out the door, and started popping around outside the cage. His men raced to stop her, and were in the middle of a fight of her choosing. Trina was quick to use her mobility to enhance Rumble's strength, often setting one of the thugs up to be hit, or using a flung thug as a weapon. Martial Arts were often good at redirecting force, and unfortunately for his men, those she redirected often came to a sudden stop.

It was only as his own body failed, his power to use the combined abilities of any other talisman users withing a hundred yards still not making him string enough to make up for the girls skills at combat, that he realized where he'd seen the small, shapely girl before. "Sam? I thought you were still in Seattle." He asked just before they put him out.

Later, after Rex gloated to Tori about his plans, it was Cheshire who she saw out of the corner of her eyes. The map showing Jade's flight included her destination, and since Rex had chosen to go with a remote destination, Trina popped over to rescue the Asgardian while Rumble and Blitz waited. Once that was done, they snuck back to near the base, letting Goonter know they were okay and ready. Emily had already crafted a talisman of her own, allowing the girls to send radio reports that would seem to come from Griffin, thus fooling Rex. But when they heard about Cat's date, Trina popped over to recover the Golden Girl and the others raced into the base, using Jade's control of it to turn off the security systems as they went.

So now, Rex was looking at his plans going up in smoke, except for the fact that Robbie's contribution too the plan still gave him a chance. He had a dozen me, all highly trained agents, while the Champions were maybe six, now seven, kids. "I'm not beaten yet." Rex said, anger sweating out of his small plastic and wood body. "You still haven't beaten my men. Their far more trained then the last set you faced, and I'll wager I still have more then an even chance of coming out on top. But if any of you are thinking of just having someone snuff me out, then let me tell you this. None of you can kill me. I'm immortal. Destroy this body, and I'll just move to another one."

This group of agents were all close in fighters or elementals. Rex, under Robbie's guidance, had pushed their strong points. Some were marksmen, while others were excellent hand to hand combatants. Both groups knew how to optimize their abilities, and how to work together. With Beck out of the fight, the odds were two to one in Rex's guys favor.

Three squared off against Cat, trying to blast their way in. One threw electricity, the heart of the storm, to try and fry her nervous system, while another launched waves of sound. The third used fire, smiling as the alien ally the walls were made of seemed immune to the various means of destruction tried against them. Cat, for her part, could only hold out until the others were free, or Emily finished whatever she was doing.

Three others were teamed up against Jade, trying their beast enhanced strength and reflexes against her strength, speed and training. The girl moved with a precision that worried even those experienced agents. But they knew how to work together, using their skills to neutralize hers. Circling, they tried to get past her defenses, scoring blow after blow. They also kept their distance, avoiding her grasp, not willing to become the latest of her bludgeons. Girl had a reputation. Given enough time, even power Princess would falter. It was just a matter of time.

Four agents worked as a team trying to herd the Vega sisters into a corner where they could could be neutralized. One thing that had to be countered was that Blitz, Tori, could move faster and maintain it longer then any of the agents could. Even the fastest of their agents could only approach her speed, and then only for a limited time. Of course Trina could just pop in and out wherever she wanted, making it harder and harder to keep them pinned in one place. Rex had discovered that this base was wired in such a sway that made it easy for Trina to use her powers, thus he couldn't just enchant the walls to prevent her teleporting at will. So his agents had to chase after the sisters, trying to score what they knew would be a telling blow if they could just land one straight on. But Trina was working with her sister, helping the other girl stay out of tight spots, and in return Tori made sure Rex's thugs couldn't let up on her for a moment. Still, he knew it was only a matter of time. 'Just a matter of time...'

Then there was the agent assigned to Andre. With Rumble there, they had to split up and try to out maneuver the last two one on one. Rumble was strong, a street fighter, skilled and tough and more then capable of dealing a telling blow at any one moment. To them, she was easily neutralized. The former agent fighting her simply used a mixture of redirecting martial arts and quick telling attacks. His powers were that of a great cat, giving him claws to rip her open. Her skin may not have yielded, but the maneuvers and quick, hard blows did keep her from helping the others as they slowly wore away at her reserves.

But the poor agent against Dre was overwhelmed. This was one of Captain America's protege's, and that meant he knew how to fight against their powers even as he used his own to the best effect. And for this fight, he just used the sonics to make his own punches and kicks felt that much more. The one fighting him had the power of a great ape, enhanced enough that he was supposed to be able to handle anything. But against Distortion, the poor man couldn't seem to land a single blow, or avoid more then half of the musician turned spy's attacks. And half was far over the minimum he could take. But he fought on, holding on to his fleeing consciousness for all he was worth, determined not to be the first of his team to drop.

Then, as Rex watched with a growing concern, two things happened to shift his battle field. One, Andre's opponent lost his battle to stay relevant to this combat, while on the other side of the twisting and moving battlefield, Guardian was about to reenter the fray. "Someone stop Distortion, and you two beating down Goldie, be ready, captain handsome is back in the fight." Rex's warning, he knew, may have come too late.

Beck had already moved to shift the battle, setting one of Sinjin's toys to do something it never was meant to do. He stepped in the way of the electric wielders powers, and shunted them into an electromagnetic bubble. The sudden increase in the local magnetic field would only last a short time, just long enough to fry the every unshielded electronic device in a half mile radius. Of course, the base was shielded, as was most of the toys Jade had near by, but the neighborhood would remember that day for a long time coming, while the radios the agents were wearing as backup weren't shielded enough.

The other effect was to give Beck a temporary boost in power, at the expense of hurting himself. Now seething with power, shaking, he turned his own electric pulses on the other two men who were trying to take him, and Cat, out. Both men dodged wildly, not willing to test their own defenses against this new power. Beck didn't need to hit them, just have them run into one of his shots. Cat tripped one man up, using him to block on of Beck's bolts. At that power, even fading, it was enough to drop the man. The other was unfortunate enough to get clipped by both Becks shot, and Cats, going down hard. Then the man wielding the heart of the storm found himself struck by Cat's power, physically, as Beck wrestled with him long enough to ensure the hit.

"Cat, you okay?" Beck asked.

"Nothing permanent." The redhead replied, breathing hard

"Then lets help Jade." He said with a grim look on his face.

Tori was now feeling a little less boxed in as Andre tripped a speeding agent who'd been herding her, trying to position himself for a quick throw to send the Latina speeding into the wall. As that man went down, Trina appeared over him popped him up into the air, and let gravity drop him right into Tori's passing strike. Another went down, even as they turned their attention on their next targets.

"You can't win." Goonter said to Rex. The good puppet had made his way to the control room while the fight was going on.

"I have enough earth and stone to bury you, bitch." Rex spat, as a large stone man formed from the earth that had been snuck into the base over the months it had been in operation. The alien materials the base was made out of were strong enough that Robbie'd had to bring materials, rock and stone, in over time. Outside the danger room, his powers didn't affect anything the Asgardian gadgeteer had constructed. But here in the control room, the evil puppet could summon a rock man over eight feet tall. "You wanna test how invulnerable you are?"

"So thats Jade, huh?' Goonter said, not seeming to care about the menacing figure standing over him. "I can see why you're afraid of her. Three men, and they were barely holding their own."

In the lounge, Jade smiled, then released a pulse of force from her body, pushing everything around her back and off their feet. The agents quickly regained their footing, but not before Beck zapped one and Cat blasted another so hard the agent dented the strange materials of the wall. Beck's target slowly shrugged off the stunning effects of his taiser, so Beck switched to a magnetic pulse that slammed his target into the wall with almost as much force as Cat's target had been hit.

"Interesting, the wall, it's pushing out again." Goonter commented.

"Yea, Jade's brother is a genius." Rex drolled. "I've linked my life force to Robs. Kill me, he dies. Then again, you'd die too. But I think, for a goodie goodie like you, killing Rob might be the real threat."

"And you forget that I didn't spend my time building a power base so much as figuring out how to stop you." The other puppet said, his face seeming to smile. "Emily, time to use your champion."

Over in the central area, just off of what once was the lounge, the ten year old girl focused her mind, calling out to Trina in what was a similar effect to the goth princess's communication spell. "Get Jade, then take me to the control room. This is the final battle."

Trina didn't like abandoning her sister, but with Andre there, the others who'd been chasing them had been whittled down to just one woman with cat like reflexes and related abilities. The cat girl was already trapped between Tori and Andre, fighting a losing battle. "On my way." She said, because she didn't know how to think it real hard yet.

Trina popped over to where Jade was slamming her last opponent into anything solid to see what broke first, taking the violent girls arm and saying "This parties getting rough. Time to go." In her best Bavarian accent. Then the last of the ones who'd boxed with Jade dropped to the ground, gratefully able to just slip into unconsciousness.

Trina stopped in the closet Emily was in just long enough to pick up the girl, then popped over to the control room. That jump was blocked, since Rex had been able to seal the one room in the base he and Robbie spent most of their time in. However, the door opened for Jade, because no room save the bedrooms would deny her entrance.

The rock man struck Jade with all his force, sending her flying out of the room again. Trina responded with a lightning fast kick, followed by popping Emily to the far side of the room. "Someone explain the big guy made of earth." She said.

"Thats the power we gave Robbie." Goonter said. "Power stolen by Rex."

"It was always my power." Rex snapped as the stone man smashed the other puppet.

The now mangled puppet continued like nothing had happened. "They can only control that much mass a limited distance. Maybe a hundred yards at most."

"Got it." Cheshire said, popping over to behind the rock man then winking out of existence. A second later she would dodge the desperate swing the big rock man threw at her as she reached her destination. The beach wold have to deal with the extra statue. A second later, the heroin would appear back outside the control room.

"I sealed this room?" Rex was ranting. "How'd she..."

"The door was open, giving her a line of escape." Emily explained. "And now..."

Another rock man started to form. "I have enough material hidden in the corners and under the rugs to make a dozen of my warriors." Rex chided.

The rock man was smashed by Power princess. "So make them, I'll smash them." She challenged.

"This is getting us no where." Trina moaned. "Jade, we need to find Robbie, get him out of here."

"No, this ends now." Goonter declared. "Emily, I wish you hadn't come into this level of danger, but you know what to do."

The ten year old concentrated, allowing a trance to overcome her, even as Goonters body seemed to reshape into it's old, unsmashed form. Then the good puppet rushed forward and started wrestling with the evil one. "I won't let you win." He promised the world.

"Still stronger then you." Rex said, as he wrestled back. Trina was in and out, taking one stone warrior away only for the next to appear.

"Princess, please, listen to me." Emily said as the Asgardian stood over her, trying to make sure the new rock soldier didn't do any damage before Trina could come back and add another statue to the cityscape.

That was when the two puppets seemed to drop, like someone had cut their strings. The blond girl was sweating, focusing so much on her task. "Princess, please, touch them, or me, and let me bring you to the final battle. I trust Cheshire to keep us safe."

Not sure what else to do, and seeing the growing magics around the girl, Jade did as she was asked, pulling the two puppets to herself and touching Emily's hand.

A moment later, she was in another world. Some kind of pocket dimension where Goonter was waging a losing battle against Rex. Only here, Rex was over twenty feet tall, while the other puppet hadn't changed at all.

"Told you I was stronger." Rex gloated. "Here, even miss high and mighty is just another insect to be destroyed." Rex swung at Jade, who dodged.

"Jade, you need to fight, but don't destroy him. Just weaken him." Gooner pleaded in that Howdy Doody voice of his.

Not sure what else to do, the goth princes swung a fierce blow at Rex's arm, and watched it snap off. The puppet howled in pain, even as the arm started to reform. But the new arm hung limply, not so much a weapon as a decoration.

"I can kill him." Jade howled in triumph as she flew up to his head and aimed another blow. The impact from his good arm sent her spiraling to the far side of the small space.

"Please, noooo." Robbie cried from his place stuck in Rex's body. "If you kill him, I'll die."

"Sounds like a personal problem." Jade said, but inside she was torn. 'I can't kill Robbie, can I? I mean, he was evil, but never Rex evil. And... and he was, is my friend.' The Asgardain warrior was now hovering just out of Rex's reach, torn about what to do.

"You don't have to kill him, just take out his limbs. Let me have a weakened Rex to fight." Goonter called out. "Break his jaw, cripple his limbs, and I'll do the rest."

Not sure what else to do, and definitely not ready to rip her friend apart, the pale girl flew down and attacked the legs. First she smashed one leg, to knock the giant puppet down, then the other to keep him from moving. Jade's next target was the other arm, but she ripped both arms off to prevent the evil one from any kind of defensive move. Finally, she smashed the jaw, sending shock-waves through this little dimension.

Emily's voice was then heard all around them. "Goonter, please, there has to be another way." She cried.

"No, there isn't." The small man said, a strange resolution in his eyes. "You see, we were once one spirit, long ago. But while I was true to the task we were given, protecting the world of man from the dark spirits that sometimes sneak through, his side reacted to the cruelty he saw and endured. We split, with him growing stronger and me living in a form of stasis. Funny, it was the ones like Rob, who let Rex have his way, they brought me out, a little at a time, and Robbie, who Rex mistreated so badly, was the one to give me form and a name.

He looked in Rex's eyes, even as the other puppet shrank to his size. "Yes, Rex, I know I can't kill you. I can just send you to hell."

Then the two seemed to merge. Gooner, the weaker, less developed of the two, was fading, but his contribution to the whole was still enough.

Jade woke from the strange dream like feeling she'd been having to the sound of Emily's scream. The blond girl was holding Goonter, crying like she'd lost her best friend. "What..." The goth tried.

"HE'S GONE!" The Sunshine girl screeched. Then softer, she added "He drown in the ocean that was Rex. Lost in the tides. And we won't know for sure if it worked or not until Rex wakes up."

"And if it didn't work?" Trina wondered.

The girl sniffed. "There's a ritual to sever the connection between Robbie and the spirit. I-I don't know it. I couldn't find anyone with the power or skill to use it. Even gothica here isn't nearly skilled enough."

Trina spun her head around to see Jade shrug. "Fair enough." the goth admitted.

The others were gathering in or around the control room as the blond girl continued to lament the loss of one of the most important people in her life. Trina hugged her even as she hugged the form of Goonter.

"So..." Trina started.

"We heard." Andre cut her off. "The communication system was on. We heard everything, including whatever that weird fight between Princess here and a giant Rex?"

"So you know.." Trina started, only to be cut off by yet another sound.

Rex had woken up after the fight, going unnoticed because he chose not to move. But the effects Goonter had intended were now manifesting. Goonter wasn't so much dead as a part of Rex, who now had a conscience telling him what was right or wrong. And with it came regret, the likes of which he'd never felt in his centuries of existence. Overwhelmed by his own actions, he let out a scream of pain and remorse that rent the air, tearing that fabric of his own hatred to the core. "How could I have been so blind?" The puppet cried, his body rocking with dry tears. "I hurt so many people, didn't care about anyone but myself, and for what? A moment of revenge that would get me nothing? And I lost, I lost the only one who could ever understand me. And, and, and Robbie, how could I have treated him like such a loser, after making him one? Only he wasn't, and I..."

"Does anyone have a clue what we do next?" Beck asked, having arrived last since he was busy rescuing Sinjin and Courtney.

"Lets get Robbie." Cat said, and led the way to the cell where the one time mastermind was locked up. They found him sitting in the fetal position, terrified that Jade was coming to rip him apart. The psychic shock waves of Goonters sacrifice were filling him with regret too.

Mal showed up a short while later, after confirming that Rex had indeed placed an air bubble in his break like. "Okay, listen up. Things have to be done a certain way. Robbie, I'm afraid we are going to have to arrest you. Rex too, though if I'm honest I'm not too crazy about putting cuffs on a puppet."

"But..." Cat started.

"No, Cat, it's all right." Robbie said, trying to calm her down. "I did this. Maybe Rex manipulated me, but I made a lot of bad choices on my own. I need to face the consequences of my actions."

Tori was holding Jade, while Trina held Emily. Beck for his part, was holding Trina. meanwhile Courtney held her brother, while Cat watched with tear filed eyes as Robbie was marched out of the base with the super soldiers he'd helped create. Fortunately, like most of Rex's creations, their powers were temporary. Griffin and his thugs were also picked up, as well as a huge pile of cash seized from various accounts Rex had created as he grew as a crime lord. Rumble, Cat's roommate, comforted the redhead as best she could.

four weeks later, Jade was talking to Cat about the latest homework. "Miss Cosgrove is asking me to write a paper about my biggest influence." Jade explained to her friend. "But I..I'm not sure how to explain my brother in a way that wouldn't give away far to much."

"Sam's friend, Cary, lived with her brother. They had a major age difference too." Cat replied, still upset that Robbie had been arrested for the many crimes he'd committed while working for Rex. "Write it like she did, that he was there for you when your dad was busy at work. Just, you know, leave out the unnecessary details."

"Or you could just say that he was older, and was the one who taught you the things your parents didn't know how to even approach." Robbie added. He was standing there near Jade's locker, which was next to his, acting like nothing had changed.

Half a second later, he was pressed against a locker, Jade holding him with enough force to start to bend the metal. "How'd you escape?" She growled. Tori and Trina saw the commotion, moving as fast as normal teens could to get to them before the warrior got herself expelled.

Andre and Beck were already heading over, ready to pull Jade off of whatever poor fool was dumb enough to poke the bear. Like the girls before them, they hesitated when they saw the puppeteer pressed against the locker.

Mal, in his cover identity as a security guard, was just behind the kids. "Break it up." He called. "Everyone, go to class."

"We have ten minutes before classes begin." Someone pointed out.

"Go, clear the area." Mal repeated. "Miss West, let the boy go."

Jade hissed "You know what he did. You know how close we all came to dying cause of him and his demented puppet."

"But Rex was pulling the strings." Cat tried, pulling on her friends arm, trying to reduce the pressure pressing into Robs ribs. "Rob even tried to be heroic, sometimes. Maybe he served his time and came back to us?" The hope in the redheads voice was heart-wrenching.

"Jade!" Snapped Sikowitz, who'd just shown up. "Let him go, NOW!"

The Asgardian let the poor boy go, backing off but standing between him and Tori.

"Andre, I take it you haven't had the chance to tell everyone?" Mal asked. By that point, Derrick, the other security guard, had managed to herd the other students out. "Mister Shapiro has been sentenced to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. and law enforcement in whatever capacity we need him. And I was thinking he was so useful as your eyes and ears. So we arranged for him to serve his sentence that way. It's like probation, except totally different. He works for us, for the assigned time, and we get the benefits of his skills and experience. Plus, he can create those rock men wherever there's enough earth withing his range. He's vulnerable, but as long as he's protected, his rock men make great guards for the base, as well as a resource we can use when needed."

"And Rex?" Jade asked.

"Still a basket case." Robbie said. "He's slowly returning to his old self, but totally different. It's like he really cares. I-I can't explain it. He's just different. Still crude, but not as cruel. He hasn't played one prank on me since Goonter..."

"They merged." Trina reminded everyone. "And Rex is now bound by the power of Goonters conscience. Rex is good. At least, thats what they told me was the goal."

"He's good." Sikowitz said. "Rex Powers has ceded all the power he took from Robbie back to him. And, least you think Robbie here got off easy, he's the one member of the team who doesn't have a choice. You all can leave. He's got his full sentence to serve."

"Sounds like we're giving him a second chance." Tori said, her arms wrapped around her girls waist. "Are we sure?" Even as she spoke, her arms held on to the pale beauty before her, making sure that her girlfriend didn't do anything rash.

"We're sure." Trina assured her sister. "Besides, think of it this way. We're the one's with the power to contain him should he get out of control again."

"Rob, I'm not the forgiving type." Jade growled. "But I'll give you a chance. But if you do hurt ANY of us, I'll rip Rex's head off, and maybe shove it up your…."

"And thats enough of that." Tori said as her had slid over the pouty lips of her girl. "Welcome back to the team."

"Thanks." Rob replied. "I have a lot to make up for, and I want to start by helping you train in any way I can. But the big thing is, I want to help. I know, knew from when I helped save that girl, that being a hero wasn't a suckers bet. Rex was wrong, no one deserves to be someone's plaything."

"So, Rob, what were you saying about Miss Cosgrove's assignment?' Jade managed to say through her girls hand.

"Just that you don't need to get into the weird, just explain your dad had another family before you came along, that your brother, your full brother, was born long enough before you were that he was an adult while you were still very young." Robbie explained. "Then talk about how he had learned so much stuff that was very different then the stuff your parents were concerned with. When they separated, then divorced, your brother was the one who helped you though those moments."

"That sounds like it might work." Jade said, looking at him a little puzzled. "How did you think of that?"

"Rex and Goonter have a surprisingly long history." The puppeteer said. "I get some of their insights. Sometimes. It just, I don't know, it made sense to talk about them in a way that was truthful, but left out the difficult to explain parts."

The group stood there, not sure what to say next, when Robbie turned to Cat. "Look, I'm sorry about what we, Rex and I, did to you. Or rather, I'm sorry about what I did to you."

"You mean trying to kill my friends?" Cat asked. "Or setting me up on a date with a hot guy who wasn't you?"

"Both." The reforming criminal looked into her eyes, trying to express all his regrets. "Cat, I do care about you. Rex didn't want to hurt you, partially cause even he cared. But I want something between us. I'm willing to work really hard at it. And if you don't want anything more then friendship, I'll accept that too."

"How can I take you seriously when your entire crush on me came from one stage kiss? A kiss I gave you to help you get over your crush on Trina." The redhead asked.

The gang hadn't noticed that they were so conspicuous standing around, listening in. Only Jade wanted to give them privacy, and only because this scene was making her nauseous. Rob continued. "I get that. I was so immature, grasping onto the first thing that felt like someone really cared. I'm sorry about all of that. But like I said, I'm not expecting you to just trust me. I'm willing to put in the work, earn it."

"You owe me meatballs." Cat continued.

"So, who's gonna tell Sam that Robs back on the team?" Beck asked.

"I will." Mal told them. "Rumble is the new kid on the team. I think she's more then willing to listen."

"What are her powers, anyways?" Robbie asked.

"Her equipment generates a form of telekinetic field, kind of like an exoskeleton, that enhances her strength and resilience, as well as allowing her to fly and generate force bolts." Cat said as if it were common knowledge. "She became out ace in the hole."

"I'm glad you had her." The boy in glasses told her. "I was so worried that Jade might die." Then to Jade. "I admit I was on the wrong side, but I wanted to turn you. Turn all of you. Have you working with me, not against me. I loved that we were a team."

"We get it." Andre cut him off. "Rob, before you get too comfortable, I'm gonna make it my duty to be your training officer. You're gonna learn what Captain America taught me about the original founding principles of S.H.I.E.L.D. And how that can drive a person to do incredible things."

"Looking forward to it." The puppeteer said with a smile. "So, anything I missed while out?"

"I'm dating Trina." Beck informed the boy as they walked towards class.

"How's that working out..." Rob asked as he followed along.

Sikowitz watched them walk away, smiling. They were a team again. But the world was changing, more super humans were entering it every day. In addition to the Inhumans, and aliens, there was the whole mystic world stirring up trouble. 'Only a matter of time before the world needs their champions. We'll keep S.H.I.E.L.D. as long as they fit our needs, but we have to remain separate, like the Avengers. But the West Cost is our territory to defend. Okay, that sounds like a descent opening speech for today's class…' He started walking to class, ready to inspire his students.

:}

And that was a thing.

So, Goonter died so that Rex could get a conscience, and join the side of good. Robbie's come over, and is serving his sentence as hero support. Jade's with Tori, Beck's with Trina, and Cat gets her shot at Robbie. All is well in the world.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions, you know where the review button is.

Thanks for reading, and to everyone who left a comment. Especially Azkedelio and Lushcoltrane. Thanks for all the support.


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